disposable instruments in autoclave?

[shuubie]

I work at an ambulatory surgery facility and one day we were short of an instrument. We do have disposables as backup and we end up using the last one. I'm a fairly new nurse and not sure of these rules... but is it okay to flash the disposables in the autoclave and reuse for another patient?

[daVinciNurse]

Generally speaking, a disposable item is labeled for single patient use and should NOT be re-sterilized. If your facility chooses to do so and something goes wrong with the use of the instrument, the original manufacturer is not responsible as it was used against their guidelines. There are companies that have quite a business re-processing single use items, but those companies then become the manufacturer and will stand behind their reprocessed item---these companies are held to standards equal to those of the original manufacturer.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

daVinciNurse is correct on all counts. Disposable single use items should NEVER be flashed to re-use. There are companies like Ascent Technologies that reprocess single use items, but they take it apart first, salvage what they can and then re-build the items.

There was a surgeon a few years back that ran out of external fixation pins and used a drill bit instead. Of course this was absolutely the wrong thing to do, and the doc had his medical license yanked after the patient got a horrendous infection which was traced to the drill bit.

If you find that you have run out of something, you can always page the rep that supplies them from the hospital, or even call another hospital to borrow one. There are 4 hospitals near me and we all understand the need to borrow on occasion. Just ask your NM how to go about it in the proper way. The business office will usually handle the logistics for you.

This was a good question and I am glad you posted it. I am curious, what sort of instrument was it?

[shuubie]

Thanks for your replies! it was another one of those manipulator instruments for ophthalmic surgery.