Ideas That Work: ‘The Newspaper Test’ Is a Simple Way to Keep Problem Instruments Out of the OR

Practical pearls from your colleagues

Whether it’s cracked instrument marking tape, a miniscule chip out of the jaw of the needle holder or a jaw that has somehow become “sticky,” there are plenty of situations where staff may wonder if an instrument with a questionable issue can still be used on a patient — and spend an unnecessary amount of time and energy asking around to find a satisfactory answer.

More often than not, their question can be answered in 30 seconds or less using “The Newspaper Test,” says Hank Balch, CRCST, CER, CIS, CHL, founder and president of Beyond Clean, a sterile processing education, consulting and media firm.

Whenever Mr. Balch gets asked if an instrument can be used on a patient by the diverse healthcare professionals he interacts with regularly — from SPD managers and quality & risk personnel to hospital administrators — he shares his test with them.

“I simply ask, ‘Would you be comfortable taking a photo of this instrument and putting it on the front page of your local newspaper?’” he says. “The answer is always, instantly, 100% of the time, ‘No!’”

The test is not only remarkably simple and effective, but it also forces a level of transparency that Mr. Balch believes a large segment of the healthcare industry needs right now. “At a high level, we [as an entire clinical profession] are far too comfortable doing things behind closed doors that we would not be comfortable putting in front of patients or the public,” he says. OSM