Margaret Gilman, MAS, CIC, FAPIC: Medline: Medline Infection Control Advisory Board (Ongoing)
Overview/Abstract: When patients encounter medical devices and equipment, they trust that their healthcare providers have cleaned and disinfected it properly. As an organization, how do we know for sure? High level disinfection and sterilization (HLD/S) can be complex, multi-step, multidisciplinary processes that, when not done properly, can lead to harm to patients, staff members, and the organization. Citations around HLD/S are the top citation from regulatory agencies. This session will review the development of an HLD/S Steering Committee, charged with oversight over of the processes inside and outside of Sterile Processing. Beginning with the impetus for the development, the session will review all the steps of creating a committee, including proposals/business cases, identification of leads and executive sponsors, development of a charter, sample agendas, tracer data, and sample goals. The real-life experience of developing the committee is discussed, including program wins, opportunities for improvement in the process and roadblocks faced along the way.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the necessity of oversight for high level disinfection and sterilization processes
Discuss the implementation of a high level disinfection and sterilization steering committee
Identify successes, opportunities for improvement, and pitfalls to avoid when developing a new oversight committee
