Suction canisters

[T-Bird78]

I work in ENT and we have suction canisters in each room. We mostly use it for cerumen removal, nosebleeds, and post-op sinus/nasal surgery debriedment. Our clinical services person, a former OR nurse, is trying to tell us that suction canisters are single-use only and should be changed after every pt. In the OR I can completely see this, but there is no reason that the 500ml canister should be changed after suctioning ear wax from one pt, not to mention the time it takes to flush the line, disconnect, add the solidifier, and install the new canister. She refuses to listen to us on this matter and is going to insist on this policy change effective immediately. She also wants single-use atomizers for the nasal numbing spray (we use the glass bottles with disposable tips and it never actually touches the pt). Anybody else have these policies or is she just going overboard?

[niccikatie]

I used to manage an ENT clinic. Our canisters were labeled single use, therefore we had to treat them as single use. We had a very similar dilemma about the waste (time and resources) but ultimately, we replaced them after each use. We explored trying to find canisters that were not labeled as single use and had no luck.

As for the nasal spray, we also used atomizers with the single use tips. Those were fine as we were using them as the manufacturer intended. I would argue that one to the end.

[bizmamaER3]

We change suction canisters at the end of clinic. No way it is going to be done after each patient. Contaminated tubing is changed after each patient. There has been no problem with glass spray bottles with disposable atomizer tips.