Tips and Educational Activities

No matter what your position is, you can help improve infection prevention practices at your facility. The following are recommended activities and tips for promoting proper instrument processing at your facility:

• Educate staff about "dirty" and "clean" activities and areas. All staff--not just those who use and process instruments--can help keep clean areas safe. Staff need to understand the difference between "clean" and "dirty" areas and activities so they can help keep traffic and the risk of contamination to a minimum in areas where clean activities take place. It is useful to clearly label clean areas with signs that specify which staff members can enter and which activities can be performed within them.
• Tour your facility to review the flow of activity. Tour your facility to look at the areas where instruments are processed. Is decontamination solution available in all areas where instruments and other potentially contaminated items are used? Do activities flow in such a way that "clean" objects and activities do not come in contact with "dirty" ones? Are items being stored properly after processing? Look for practices that need improvement, and discuss possible solutions with supervisors and colleagues.
• Ensure that decontamination solutions are being properly prepared. If you or the staff you supervise prepare the facility's decontamination solution, make sure the solution is of the proper concentration (e.g., 0.5% active chlorine). Be sure to check the amount of active chlorine any time your facility uses a new product.
• Hold skills training for the staff who wrap and process instruments and the staff who prepare decontamination solutions to make sure they are making a solution of the proper concentration. If you always use the same bleach, the formula for decontamination solution needn't be calculated every time the solution is prepared: every time a new product is used, one person can calculate the proper concentration and mark the buckets so that all staff know how much bleach and water to add without having to measure. (This is particularly important if staff who prepare the solution are low-literate/nonliterate.) However, make sure to check the percentage of active chlorine whenever you use a new product.
• Hold regular in-service training. All providers should receive updates on clinical techniques and information on a regular basis. All staff at your facility who use or handle instruments and other items that come in contact with a client's mucous membranes, blood and other body fluids, or tissues under the skin should understand the basics of how to decontaminate used items.
• Hang posters. It is useful to hang posters or signs on such topics as proper maintenance of processing equipment (such as autoclaves and dry-heat ovens), proper storage of processed items, and how to make a 0.5% chlorine solution.
• Post reminders. It's a good idea to label areas where clean activities take place and post reminders to restrict access in these areas.
• Be a good role model. You can set a good example. Model good infection prevention practices during the course of your day and encourage your staff or colleagues to do the same.

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