Understanding whether you are meeting the most current standards in instrument sterilization is crucial, since surveyors, regardless of the accreditation body, are very interested in evaluating instrument reprocessing procedures at hospitals and ASCs – and you need to be ready.

Susan Flynn, BESc, CSSPDT, a Technical Applications Specialist with 3 M Health Care, provided detailed information in this session to help you with this critical topic.

The Joint Commission’s May 2021 online newsletter outlined the most challenging standards in ambulatory care settings for 2020, which included reducing the risk of infections associated with medical equipment, devices and supplies.

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) is also focused on how facilities are following Immediate Use Steam Sterilization, as well identifying as gaps in policy, monitoring and documentation.

ASCs do not need to start developing policies from scratch, Flynn said, because policies already exist. AORN’s evidence-based Guidelines for Perioperative Practice includes several sections relevant to sterilization. AAMI’s consensus standards 79 and 58 also continue to be a go-to resource for both steam and vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilization.

Steam sterilization is the most commonly used process for a wide range of instruments in hospital and ASC settings. In her talk, Flynn described how steam under pressure works to sterilize tools—it transfers large quantities of energy very quickly inside the sterilizer. When saturated steam comes into direct contact with colder items, it condenses and transfers enough heat energy to kill any microorganisms on the instrument surfaces.

To be effective, time, temperature and saturated steam are critical variables. The presence of non-condensable gases, most commonly air, result in inadequate sterilization conditions. Medical devices often specify a specific type of air removal.

Key learnings from her presentation are:

• Cleaning and sterilization of reusable instruments play a critical role in patient safety
• When buying new equipment, consult device manufacturers’ instructions for use for validated sterilization parameters
• Comprehensive quality control monitoring, according to current standards and evidence-based guidelines, is an important element of all sterilization processes

If you couldn’t catch Flynn’s session, the recording will be available in the on-demand library starting Aug. 10 through Sept. 24.