Sterile Processing
The Infection Control Today® sterile processing page provides an inside look into the sterile processing (or central supply) department in the hospital where surgical instruments are cleaned, sterilized, and reprocessed in order to disinfect, remove bioburden, and prep for upcoming procedures. Sterile processing applies to not only the knives, scalpels, scissors, forceps, and clamps used in surgery, but also instruments such as endoscopes and duodenoscopes. ICT® reports on the latest technology but also on the means to disinfect that technology. Also, the trend toward making more disposable surgical equipment. What does that mean for the sterile processing team?
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September 11th 2025
From ultrasound gel safety to high-level disinfection, The Joint Commission’s 2025 surveys are zeroing in on infection prevention hot spots. Are your teams ready?
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Transporting and Protecting Reprocessed Devices
June 12th 2017Q: We reprocess vaginal specs for some local doctors' offices. I recently learned that once the office staff receives the instruments, they are then opening up the individual sterile peel pouches and then place the “unprotected” vaginal speculums into the exam table to be ready for use by the provider. Is there anything we can purchase to use for transportation purposes that will save us time and money and skip the sterilization process of these items?A: This is an excellent question, especially with many sterile processing departments (SPDs) now processing devices for offsite clinics and doctors' offices. Vaginal speculums fall under the semi-critical devices category (Spaulding).
Education, Certification Boost Performance of Sterile Processing Professionals
June 12th 2017ICT spoke with Karen Swanson LPN, CSPM, CFER, manager of the central sterile department at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and chairman of the board of directors of the Certification Board for Sterile Processing (CBSPD), regarding the challenges that face sterile processing professionals and the importance of building key skill sets.
Researchers Study Effectiveness of Cleaning and Disinfectant Products on C. diff Spores
June 6th 2017In healthcare facilities, Clostridium difficile infections spread by transmission of bacterial spores. Appropriate sporicidal disinfectants are needed to prevent development of clusters and outbreaks. In this study by Kenters, et al. (2017), different cleaning/disinfecting wipes and sprays were tested for their efficacy against spores of distinctive C. difficile PCR ribotypes.
