A recent found the process healthcare facilities use to clean and sterilize ureteroscopes leaves the instruments contaminated with debris, residue and bacteria, according to an article on the Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality website.
The study was presented at the recent 44th Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
Researchers sampled 16 ureteroscopes used in two facilities after the instruments were treated with hydrogen peroxide gas.
"APIC is concerned that the techniques used in the field are insufficient and that current methods in place are introducing more contamination with the reprocessing of each scope," Linda Greene, RN, 2017 APIC president, said in the article.
How Efficiency Checklists Help Hospitals Save Energy, Water and Money
Designing with Heart: Seen Health Center Blends Cultural Warmth and Clinical Care
Rutgers Health and University Hospital Breaks Ground on Campus Expansion
What to Consider When Modernizing Healthcare Facilities
Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital to Build New Tower