Q & A
Taking a Team Approach to Patient Safety
Editor ’ s note
The importance of all healthcare stakeholders stepping outside of their silos and working together to keep patients safe — especially relating to the risks posed by medical equipment , devices and instruments – cannot be overstated . Healthcare Hygiene magazine asked three experts to share their perspectives on how to manage through the risks and identify strategies for optimal patient outcomes . Our experts are : starts as early as the pre-purchase stage and involves everyone from biomedical and facilities maintenance / HVAC to infection control and purchasing , sterile processing , the endoscopy suite , the operating room , safety and security , risk management , and the education department . In addition to a comprehensive community mindset , manufacturers ’ instructions for use ( IFUs ) are of the utmost importance to making sure all silos work together . There is an IFU for everything — even cleaning brushes . Necessary documents ( IFUs / SDS ) must be up to date , cover all devices and equipment and be accessed throughout the processing cycle . If these IFUs are not followed step-by-step it impacts the whole ecosystem of these so-called silos . Accessibility to these necessary documents and materials is another hurdle for certain facilities . In summary , a team approach always wins , hands down . If not , we will never achieve that optimal level of patient safety for which we all aim .
HHM We ’ ve all heard it said that infection prevention is everyone ’ s business ; how do we move beyond mere lip service to this imperative ?
Damien S . Berg , BA , BS , CRCST Regional Manager , Sterile Processing , UCHealth ( Colorado )
Alison Sonstelie , BS , CHL , CRCST Sterile Processing Coordinator , Sanford Health ( Fargo , N . D .)
David Jagrosse , CRCST , CHL President , David Jagrosse Consulting , LLC
HHM Getting people out of their silos is tough during normal circumstances ; how does a public crisis like COVID exacerbate the process , and what ’ s your best advice for how to bring people together when they are stretched thin ?
David Jagrosse ( DJ ): While everyone might have a specialty , or silo , all these silos impact one another . So , the easy answer is for us to all help one another out so it ’ s a well-oiled machine , but things happen and are at times out of your control . For example , when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit and people faced an unprecedented amount of pressure and time constraints , departments got overwhelmed and teams were overworked , thus creating a negative domino effect . Truly , the team approach
DJ : We must make the move to get involved with our infection prevention team . The momentum from the pandemic should serve as a great starting point of reference . There are many opportunities to team up and look at other areas both within and outside the hospital . These are areas that may be performing any type of instrument processing , high level disinfection or sterilization . These areas often need help and oversight . There is typically inconsistency in both practices and the products used to achieve the objective . Policies and training are lacking too often . This is a great way to have a collaborative approach to solving the health system ’ s areas of opportunities and not just to be focused within the sterile processing department ( SPD ) or infection prevention silo . This can be built into an ongoing collaborative approach that can be quarterly or annual , based on the needs of the areas .
Damien Berg ( DB ): Infection prevention goes hand in hand with patient safety . To save a life , you need to decrease any chance of infection and everyone in the healthcare world has a role in that . This concept is never going away ; however , I think what is important to understand and accept is that we have high-level , advanced technology at our fingertips and it will only get better in the future . In turn , infection preventionists would
www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • may 2021
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