The Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses has listed perioperative nurses' 10 most cited areas of concern in selecting products for operating rooms, according to a study published in AORN Journal.
For their study, researchers distributed informal surveys to perioperative leaders at healthcare institutions across the country. Feedback from those surveys reveals the following top 10 concerns regarding OR product selection:
• Sterilization
• Construction/remodeling
• Greening of the OR
• New technologies
• Human resource issues
• Orthopedic and cardiac surgery
• Infection prevention and bloodborne pathogens
• Documentation/electronic medical records
• Specialty populations
• Safety for both patients and staff
To help perioperative leaders address these concerns, authors of the study outlined several questions to consider with each topic of interest. For instance, questions to consider with sterilization include the following:
• In what instances should sterilization and high-level sterilization be used?
• What is the status of the sterilization equipment with the Food and Drug Administration, CDC or any other regulatory group?
Other topics to consider in regard to infection prevention and bloodborne pathogens when purchasing OR products include the following questions:
• Does the facility have an infection surveillance process in place?
• Does the facility conduct risk assessments to identify infection-susceptible patients?
• Does the facility have clear policies and procedures for prep solutions?
For a full list of the topics and considerations, click here.
For their study, researchers distributed informal surveys to perioperative leaders at healthcare institutions across the country. Feedback from those surveys reveals the following top 10 concerns regarding OR product selection:
• Sterilization
• Construction/remodeling
• Greening of the OR
• New technologies
• Human resource issues
• Orthopedic and cardiac surgery
• Infection prevention and bloodborne pathogens
• Documentation/electronic medical records
• Specialty populations
• Safety for both patients and staff
To help perioperative leaders address these concerns, authors of the study outlined several questions to consider with each topic of interest. For instance, questions to consider with sterilization include the following:
• In what instances should sterilization and high-level sterilization be used?
• What is the status of the sterilization equipment with the Food and Drug Administration, CDC or any other regulatory group?
Other topics to consider in regard to infection prevention and bloodborne pathogens when purchasing OR products include the following questions:
• Does the facility have an infection surveillance process in place?
• Does the facility conduct risk assessments to identify infection-susceptible patients?
• Does the facility have clear policies and procedures for prep solutions?
For a full list of the topics and considerations, click here.
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