Celebrating Nurses’ Monumental Impact
There is a myriad of ways to participate in National Nurses Week, which is celebrated May 6-12, from honoring your staff RNs with a gift or event to taking steps to let...
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By: Dan O'Connor
Published: 10/10/2007
Before you throw away those shaver blades, you might want to think about reusing them - again and again and again and again and again, spending about half as much for each use as you'd spend buying new blades each time. You can if you ship them to a reprocessor instead of tossing them in the trash.
Reader Survey: Do You Send SUDs to a Third-party Reprocessor? | |
About one-third of the facility managers and surgeons we surveyed use a third-party reprocessor, and another 7.8 percent say they might do so in the future. |
|
Yes |
30.7% |
No, and we're not planning on it |
61.5% |
No, but we're considering it |
7.8% |
We asked those that send SUDs to a third-party reprocessor which devices they send. |
|
orthopedic bits, burrs and blades |
72.0% |
compression sleeves |
64.7% |
trocars |
48.5% |
laparoscopic instruments (graspers, forceps, cutting forceps) |
36.8% |
harmonic scalpels |
26.5% |
RF arthroscopic electrodes |
23.5% |
phaco tips |
17.7% |
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery Magazine Reader Survey, June 2007, n=210 |
Surgeons at Academy Orthopedics in Cumming, Ga., have been using reprocessed shaver blades for more than two years now. Administrator Karen Bennett, RN, ONC, gives reprocessing high grades in all areas. Not once have her surgeons complained about metal shavings in the joint or about blades that dull or fail quickly. Not once has a patient come down with a surgical site infection. And not once has her supply budget not benefited. Plus, she says, the process is pretty simple.
"I think managers worry it's a hassle to send the devices back, but it's really pretty painless," says Ms. Bennett. "Just put them into a collection bin and send them away. A few weeks later, get them back at half the cost of new blades."
Many of you don't agree. Less than one-third of the hospital and ASC facility managers we surveyed send their SUDs to a third-party reprocessor (see table on p. 59). Some believe that an SUD is just that. "If it says single-patient use, then we always dispose of it after one use," says Gail Kaufman, RN, BSN, surgical services nurse manager at Logansport Memorial Hospital in Logansport, Ind. Several others wonder, what good is saving money on supplies if your surgeons won't use them - or do so begrudgingly? One manager says her arthroscopic surgeons viewed reprocessed burrs and shavers as less than new. "They said they saw bits of metal floating in the joints from the reprocessed burrs," she says. Another calls reprocessing a hassle memorable only for too many failed reprocessed devices.
As good as new?
Reprocessing involves the total decontamination, refurbishing, testing, sterilization and packaging of once-used or opened and unused single-use devices. Reprocessing SUDs has been around for more than two decades, but questions and concerns persist over whether reusing SUDs is suitable and safe for surgical facilities. It's easy to see where the confusion comes in. Manufacturers of devices labeled for single use only suggest that you use each device only once and then throw it away.
But thousands of SUDs can be safely reprocessed and used again, as safe and as effective following reprocessing as they were as original devices. The FDA tightly regulates reprocessing of SUDs and several professional societies have tacitly endorsed the practice. Regarding safety, there's no proof in the literature that reprocessed SUDs have a higher infection rate associated with their use.
Third-party reprocessors will tell you that you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between using a new device or a reprocessed one. Even the packaging should be indistinguishable (although if you look closely, you'll notice that reprocessed devices are either marked with the reprocessor's name or logo, or otherwise bear a peel-away label that may be attached to the patient's chart). And in terms of functionality (from proper sharpness to spring actuation), cleanliness and sterility, a reprocessed device should be as good as new.
"We've had fewer problems with our reprocessed supplies than we've had with new supplies," says one administrator. "Very cost-effective, just like OEM, no matter what the vendors and manufacturers say," says another.
Tips for doing reprocessing right
If you're thinking about using a third-party reprocessor, here's advice for doing the job right.
The Limits of Reprocessing |
' Not all SUDs are candidates for reprocessing. By some estimates, less than 2 percent of single-use devices are eligible for reprocessing. Depending on the capabilities of the reprocessor you choose, the list can extend to more than 8,000 different Class I and Class II SUDs in 15 major device categories. These devices include, but are not limited to, trocars, harmonic scalpels, laparoscopic instruments like graspers, forceps and cutting forceps, compression sleeves, RF arthroscopic electrodes, phaco tips and orthopedic bits, burrs and blades.
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