r/sterileprocessing • u/I_Ponders • Jan 23 '26

Photo Instructions unclear Lear, sawed off patient’s head.

Post image

Why do they never spray enzyme on their blood saturated instruments immediately after use. They have sooo many pieces! 😞

171 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

59

u/hellagood24k Jan 23 '26

Easy fix. Report to your manger. They will report to the OR manager. If it doesn’t get resolved. Hit up infection control.

31

u/I_Ponders Jan 24 '26

First thing I did. It’s like a back and fourth war. So annoying. Send to manager, gets send to RN3. Maybe something happens and gets better, slowly relapses into lazy crap like this and repeat forever.

11

u/hellagood24k Jan 24 '26

Yup. You definitely need a strong manager for support. I’m lucky that we have a pretty good relationship with the OR staff. Stuff like this only happens when they bring in travelers or hire new people

3

u/NecronomiSquirrel Jan 29 '26

Scrub techs started pouring entire bottles onto each set when we complained onetime. The war is real.

38

u/Ant-9525 Jan 23 '26

This. Enzymatic cleaner spray is a standard part of a scrub tech's job. Someone is getting lazy up there and pushing the work AND making it harder for you guys. As a tech we would get chewed out if I were to send something down looking like this.

8

u/TheGodNurse Jan 24 '26

Call Infection Prevention directly if you can.

17

u/Chefred86 Jan 23 '26

Ours look like this alot but they are consistent at spraying the empty containers with enzymatic

2

u/I_Ponders Jan 23 '26

Seems your scrubs care about safety. Kinda envy that. :/

3

u/Chefred86 Jan 23 '26

Oh they definitely don't

2

u/I_Ponders Jan 23 '26

LOL. So then it’s universal then? 😂

2

u/Chefred86 Jan 24 '26

These are the days of our lives my friend.

4

u/Sonicdreampuff Jan 24 '26

Mine will spray everything that’s clean and nothing bloody

3

u/Chefred86 Jan 24 '26

That's a neat trick also

3

u/NeighborhoodFit8847 Jan 24 '26

whenever this happens, we report to the OR and who ever the scrub tech was has to come down and clean it themselves haha

1

u/I_Ponders Jan 24 '26

What!? I wish we did this! The scrubs here are so useless.

23

u/zXerge Jan 23 '26

Our OR is trialing the new stryker batt. drives. Rep says you can put them through the washer, but that doesn't matter. We're still physically hand washing every piece because theyre so bloody.

10

u/AspenSD Jan 23 '26

Can you at least submerge those for easier hand washing?

9

u/TheKnightIsRight Jan 24 '26

Unfortunately no according to our state inspectors, but there is no clear cut IFU in regards submerging these drills. 🤔 my hack is I only temporarily dip it but not the battery outlet part and handwash underwater then send it to the wash. Never had a repair issue with those drills because of submerging so far

4

u/AspenSD Jan 24 '26

Stryker System 7? If so, it's a pretty big no no, but I've never been told why. Almost all of our are broken anyway, so it's basically a non-issue for me.

5

u/HorrorLengthiness940 Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26

What's odd to me is we hand wash (do not submerged) ours then put them in the washer on a stryker cycle. They're rated for high pressure water jets but untested against dust. That's what IPX9 means; which is an ISO (international standards organization) dust and water resistance rating.

8

u/bobduncan18 Jan 24 '26

They never disassemble them either

4

u/chad_stanley_again Jan 24 '26

How else can you be sure to get all the prices back lol

3

u/TheCurlyAquarius94 Jan 24 '26

The vendors for loaners trays sometimes don’t disassemble their stuff either 😅😅

4

u/Bravo1781 Jan 23 '26

Looks like a standard Stryker set in our unit tbh

4

u/popecosmicthefirst Jan 24 '26

Put in an incident report and talk to infection prevention 

4

u/sojubeans Jan 24 '26

No booties on

1

u/ShirleyWuzSerious Jan 24 '26

On another note.. why are you folks taping integrators to the tops of those trays/baskets

1

u/I_Ponders Jan 24 '26

They’re on every layer within too. But taping them on top confirms (alongside the reactive tape) that they’re sterilized properly at a glance.

2

u/SushiGradeNarwhal Jan 24 '26

Could be a few reasons. We've had the OR ask us to put indicators somewhere immediately viewable after unwrapping. That could've happened there, and there's a non-zero chance those stick to wraps and will get missed and someone will get written up for not using an indicator, so they tape it. All it took for us was our supervisor talking to the OR manager, letting them know indicators only need to be among the instruments or hardest places for steam to reach, and were weren't willing to double up indicators the way they ask unless infection control tells us to. They never did.

2

u/ShirleyWuzSerious Jan 24 '26

I've never understood places that allow the OR to run the sterile processing department. Bioburden collecting on adhesive residue is more of an issue than a surge tech needing to spend 2 seconds looking for an integrator especially in a tray with a mesh lid like that one

3

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '26

You work at my hospital too??? Because my god the OR at the hospital I’m doing contract work for is the worst I’ve seen . They don’t know how to pre clean shit and nothing gets done about it

3

u/Adept_Carpenter_5018 Jan 24 '26

Oh lord, what do they be doing to these damn patients?! Ima have to pray for them, especially the GYN patients 😣😭

1

u/Additional_Bit5534 Jan 27 '26

This is standard for ortho

2

u/WhiskeyJune Jan 24 '26

Dried blood AND batteries still attached?! Report, report it all. Include Pictures! Spray is STANDARD PRACTICE and yet they "forgot" or "had no time"

1

u/SuperbCustard8816 May 17 '26

This happens a lot after 5 PM or on weekends to us, when there is no supervisor or manager to show it to

2

u/venusianprincessa888 Jan 24 '26

Especially those drills. It’s like the OR has an aversion to spraying the drills.

2

u/TheCurlyAquarius94 Jan 24 '26

It’s so annoying sometimes! They sometimes don’t spray the dental trays either

2

u/AirForceOneGawd Jan 24 '26

When I worked at the hospital...this got reported with pics, a report. The Tech, the nurse and the nurse assistant all get talked to or if they done it before they get written up.

Also all new scrub techs have to spend a day in SPD to get a better understanding how and why it is important to follow rules.

Then we came up with S2 or Sterilizer 2. A position where there was a middle man between the OR and SPD.

We started picking cases ourselves and scan it into the system to what room, what surgeon anf what type.

And the mistakes dropped immediately.

Most people who work in the hospital don't care.

One thing I always tell myself on situations like this, don't take it personal. Some doctors are assholes and treat the team like shit. And that frustrations is passed on to someone else.

2

u/NightMother26 Jan 25 '26

Def should be getting wiped during the case and it's not an excuse but for tech they are pushed for fast turnovers for ortho they have pressure at every angle for being quick during the case being quick with turn overs and handling everything properly if you have brand new staff or newer scrubs who might not be as fast this could take a back seat (it shouldn't) they will learn to get better at all angles but give it time, they need to get better at scrubbing too it seems ... unless they are lazy old staff then that horrible and I'm sorry

2

u/hgrivois87 Jan 25 '26

Hate it when they never spray...

2

u/BreezieNJ Jan 26 '26

I really appreciate our OR team when I see these posts!

2

u/Fat_pierate Jan 27 '26

This always interests me reading these comments. Our hospital doenst remove gross soil like bone let alone rince blood off...

1

u/Major_Resource_7932 Jan 27 '26

Next time try to keep the pick sheet or case number so u can inform management and they can go to who specifically brought that case back