Ideas That Work: Tray Assembly

It's frustrating, not to mention a waste of valuable time, when central sterile returns incomplete or incorrect instrument sets to the OR. We snapped overhead cellphone pictures of complete instrument sets and placed the images in a binder where reprocessing techs reorganize sterilized instruments. As techs assemble sets, they can refer to the enlarged photos of what properly completed sets should look like. If their finished product doesn’t match the picture, they know to add missing instruments or replace incorrect tools before applying blue wrap. The pictures serve as handy doublechecks for experienced techs, are invaluable tools during new hire orientations and prove useful when staff from outside of central sterile are pressed into duty during busy days to reprocess instrument trays.

April Pendleton, RN, BSN
Dennett Costin, RN, BSN, CNOR
Saint Luke's Cushing Hospital
Leavenworth, Kan.
[email protected]
[email protected]