Understanding Our Link in the Chain of Instrument Care

I read with great interest the Patient Safety First column titled “Instrument readiness: an important link to patient safety” (January 2011, Vol 93, No 1). In discussing the variety of problems that can beset a hospital in the delivery of surgical care, author Sharon McNamara, MS, RN, CNOR, points out that there are some basic, very “human” ways to correct them.

McNamara cites challenges ranging from equipment that does not work or is unavailable to poor communication regarding when equipment is needed and equipment readiness. She goes on to outline important points of care and maintenance and other vital instructions that can assist with these problems, but to me, the true solution she provides is suggesting a walk in others’ shoes:

… the [sterile processing department], central supply, and material management staff members also would benefit by observing surgical procedures so that they can understand how the technology they process and deliver is used for patients, and the importance of complete sterile trays and instruments that function properly and that are ready to use.^1(p164)

I would also add that these staff members assist in saving, improving, and prolonging human lives.

I think of how important it has been for me and others in my family’s company to observe in the OR. To help us do our jobs, we needed to see the beauty of the blush that comes into a baby’s face after the clamp (that works beautifully) is removed from the aorta, to watch a surgeon suture using a needle holder (that works), and to see how important it is that the scissors cut correctly for the extension of the arteriotomy in a bypass. A true miracle happens when a life is saved because of a quality product, meticulous surgical technique, and the proper care of the equipment by sterile processing, central supply, and material management personnel. Ms McNamara is so correct when she likens all of us to a chain—we are all important links.

When I work with our instrument polisher, who is an important link in our production chain, does he know why it is so important to carefully grind and polish the tip of the needle holder or the scissor blade? We watch videos of procedures that clearly show the importance of his delicate touch on that needle holder and scissors—the importance of his link in the chain.

We need to understand the importance of the job that each of us does. Caring for the equipment that saves lives—how much more important can you be?

Brigid Scanlan Eiynck
Vice President
Surgical Instrumentation
Scanlan International
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Reference
1. McNamara SA. Instrument readiness: an important link to patient safety [Patient Safety First]. AORN J. 2011;93(1):160–164