Episode description
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a renewed societal effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by washing our hands, wearing masks, and disinfecting everything in sight.
Healthcare workers have been employing these methods - and many more - from as far back as the mid-19th century to ensure patient safety. Entire hospital departments - sterile processing and housekeeping to name just two - are built for cleaning, decontaminating, processing, sterilizing, assembling, testing, packaging and managing medical instruments and equipment. It’s a role we all play to some extent or another as Nemours associates, even if it’s as simple as washing your hands.
Yet there is always more to be done, continuous improvement to be had, even in cleaning and maintaining medical equipment. And that’s where this story really begins -with a project centering on finding, cataloging and providing for use by Nemours associates the manufacturers Instructions for Use - the IFUs - for every piece of equipment used in the Delaware Valley. The project began in 2018 - the idea of one person - in anticipation of survey visits from the healthcare quality and safety group known as the Joint Commission.
Carol Vassar, producer