Bioseal is privileged to share highlights for industry standards and provide insights to help our healthcare partners stay informed and be prepared for the inevitable challanges headed their way. We are excited to share solutions that directly affect patient care and the professionals in the Operating Room (OR) and Sterile Processing (SP).
Recently, we shared some industry standard updates and products that can help resolve ongoing challenges impacting the OR and SP. In a short review, let us recap to provide you with a one-stop resource as you complete your department’s goals in 2023.
We know your continuous dedication to your community, patients, and staff. As forward focus leaders and professionals, we want to suggest the perspective of “It's a Good Day to Have a Good Day.” As each day begins, you have a list of goals to reach, and then there is another list. You know, the list of projects you plan to get to as time allows. Not to mention, each day brings its own challenges and opportunities that add to the already long list.
The key to growth begins at the beginning – starting, trying, and trying again. Here, we offer tools to help you reach goals and to see and say them easily. Wise Goals provides worksheets that can be utilized for upward growth and goal setting.
One of the tools is See and Say. Do you remember the game? You may have played it as a kid or given it to your children. This concept still applies to us, even with a few more years under our belts. Name your goal out loud, write it down, and place it somewhere you will often see it. A vision board is an excellent way to practice See and Say, and to make it happen.
We can quickly achieve short-term goals by assigning a timestamp to each destination. Most of us like to see results instantly, which can be reached within only a few months. Give yourself small daily or weekly tasks to help you get to your deadline. And remember to do what you say, you will do.
Bioseal provided solutions for the Operating Room to help resolve the ongoing challenge of turnover times and instrument loss by providing cost-effective disposable towel clips. At the end of a case, the surgical technologists often remove the patient’s disposable drapes and separate reusable linen/towels. Having a disposable towel clip cures the never-ending problem of retrieving instrumentation from the trash, or worse still, just lost forever, and time savers when preparing for the patient to be transported and preparing for a turn-over.
Due to the ongoing challenge of lack of instruments, we heard our customers and worked diligently to serve a solution by developing Single-Use instrumentation. These can be easily accessed by the OR staff when using a service line cart that can easily retrieve the instruments that are just not enough of or may be missing in the sterile instrument tray. The Single-Use, processed, packaged, and sterilized items by Bioseal can serve as a cost-saving solution.
Bioseal Solutions for Reducing SSIs
Fortunately for surgical teams, Bioseal provides many single-use sterile products that reduce SSIs. Thinking outside of the box and listening to their customers’ needs, either in Sterile Processing or the Surgical Suites, we provide excellent solutions for each department’s needs that serve a community of patients. They offer such unique solutions in the industry that we often tell our surgical customers at Advantage Support Services, “If you are not using Bioseal, you are doing it wrong.” For example, using a Bioseal Sterile Cable Tie Gun on the field during a thoracic procedure can provide assurances of reduced SSIs.
The Science of Water and Its Effects on Instrumentation
Because water quality dramatically affects instrument staining, we shared the importance of
water from manual to mechanical wash stages, the water quality, and how it affects
instrumentation. According to AAMI TIR34: 2014/(R)2017 Technical Information Report : Water for the reprocessing of medical devices, water is separated into categories of Utility and Critical. Utility Water is water as it comes from the tap that might require further treatment to achieve the specifications. Moving forward to the next year or two, we can look forward to ANSI/AAMI Standard 108 Water for Processing Medical Devices.
When achieving Certification status in SP and the approach to accomplish the certification goal has options of two certification boards to choose from: Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA) , formally known as IAHCSMM, and the Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution (CBSPD). When deciding how best to approach your certification, consider your schedule and personal study habits to ensure success.
Go, Go, Go: Conferences are Back
Bioseal has always supported the Sterile Processing industry, state chapters, and the national meeting at HSPA. They look forward to helping SP again this year in Nashville at Gaylord Opryland Resort on May 6-10, 2023.
By supporting education in SPDs, organizations can help ensure that the individuals working in these departments have the knowledge and skills needed to perform their job duties effectively, which can help improve patient safety and the overall quality of care.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, we are committed to providing comprehensive solutions for both the Operating Room and Sterile Processing departments. We understand the importance of maintaining a clean and safe environment in these areas, which is why we offer a wide range of products and services to help meet this goal.
From our innovative products and processing solutions with IFUs to our Single-Use Devices, we have the tools and expertise needed to help keep your OR and SP run smoothly. We are proud to be a reliable and trusted partner for many healthcare facilities and look forward to continuing to provide solutions that help improve patient safety and the overall quality of care.
References:
Stevenson, James. “FREE And Stylish PDF Goal Setting Worksheets.” WiseGoals.Com, Wise Goals, 22 May 2020, www.wisegoals.com/goal-setting-worksheets.html.
HSPA (Formerly IAHCSMM) (membersuite.com)
ANSI/AAMI ST79:2010/(R)2014 Comprehensive guide to steam sterilization and sterility assurance in health care facilities
AAMI TIR34: 2014/(R)2017 Technical Information Report: Water for the reprocessing of medical devices
Cable tie gun - 17170. Bioseal Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.biosealnet.com/product/disposable-cab...
PS;, B. (n.d.). Surgical site infections: Epidemiology and prevention . Surgical infections. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12573036/