Flashing

[Sammy25]

Just curious as to your OR flashing policy...

We cannot flash any kind of instrument or tray unless something we need is dropped during the case or is somehow unsterile and the patient is already in the room. We cannot flash for turnovers or before the patient is in the room whatsoever. This has kind of caused some frustration in our OR because sometimes we have multiple cases requiring the same instruments, and in some instances we only have one set that needs at least a couple hours to process, so cases can be delayed. Our facility states it is JACHO policy...

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

We flash repacks quite frequently- especially neuro instrument sets. There are two days each week where we have about 20 neuro cases. We only have enough sets for about 8-10, so it seems the majority of them we're flashing something. Don't know anything about JCAHO- supposedly we follow their policies.

We almost never flash implants though, unless the pt is already in the room and the set was contaminated and there's no backup.

[Sammy25]

yeah I think we have almost adopted a "no-tolerance" to flashing.... that it is not for convenience but for an emergency. There have been times where cases have been delayed hours because turnover issues or there is a hole in the wrapper, ect. I just want to see if this is a universal issue or if other facilities have the same policy... they say it is a JCAHO standard, but it seems like from previous posts no one else is adopting this policy

[KayceeCA]

Sounds like your facility has adopted the same philosophy as ours. We are not supposed to flash anything unless it's an absolute emergency - the instrument or set is needed for a case that is currently going, and there's no alternative source.

Just a few short years ago, the facility where I worked would flash instruments for any reason: an instrument was dropped from the field, and we would flash it rather than checking to see if another was available. A set was needed for a to-follow case and we would flash it, often leaving an "emergency" set sterile. Not anymore. These days, it seems you can only justify flashing if the instrument or set is not available anywhere else.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

We try not to flash but sometimes it can't be avoided. The sad thing is that we've had horrible issues with our sterile processing staff. The patient may be better off in the long run having one of the OR staff cleaning and flashing their tray! At least we give a damn..:angryfire