New Course Grid

The knowledge of water in medical device processing is rising and with it there are quality expectations. Processing technicians now have new responsibilities to ensure the quality of water.

Instrument containers serve a critical function in the surgical department. Staff must take the time needed to properly care for them.

Improvement strategies explore how technology may help address the needs for increased productivity and how to effectively quantify the improvements.

Patient safety issues have led to the development of numerous tools to help technicians determine whether or not a medical device is verifiably clean and ready for high-level disinfection or sterilization.

Sterilization of instruments is critical to infection prevention and patient safety.

Obsolescence has many hidden costs, but depending on the type, obsolescence can also yield benefits.

Whichever and wherever a sterilization process is used, it must be validated and routinely monitored to ensure ongoing efficacy

In this second article covering chemical indicators, we will examine the international standards for chemical indicators, how they are categorized, how they are tested and how practice standards describe they should be used.