Reducing the Frequency of Immediate-Use Sterilization: A Systematic Multidisciplinary Approach

Efforts to comply with AORN's recommended practices for sterilization led a multidisciplinary team at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, to undertake a quality improvement project to reduce the frequency of immediate-use (previously called flash) sterilization. Team members determined that time pressures on sterile processing department personnel, staff members' inability to find items on the peel pack cart, and shortages of some instruments led to an increased reliance on immediate-use sterilization. By tracking which instruments were most likely to be sterilized for immediate use, reorganizing the peel pack cart and instrument trays, and purchasing some additional instruments, team members were able to reduce the frequency of immediate-use sterilization by as much as 70%. It is important for perioperative nurses to participate as members of multidisciplinary quality improvement teams to implement practice changes. Shared governance is critical to any improvement project to help provide positive outcomes for the organization and for patient care.