Provide surgical instrumentation and items for the surgical team and maintain the sterile field
Overview
This standard covers providing surgical instrumentation and supplementary items to the surgical team and monitoring their use. This involves passing surgical instrumentation and supplementary items across the sterile field and checking and counting surgical items with the registered practitioner, in line with organisational policies and procedures.
You will be working in a 'scrubbed' role whilst undertaking these activities.
All actions and decisions should be carried out in accordance with current legislation, organisational policies, clinical protocols, and professional standards.
Users of this standard will need to communicate effectively to meet individuals' needs and wishes and work in line with health and safety legislation, policy and practices.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1. identify and agree the roles and responsibilities of yourself and others in providing surgical instrumentation and items for the surgical team and maintain the sterile field
P2. identify and minimise hazards and risk in the workplace
P3. ensure your, position, posture and movements do not compromise the sterile field or individual safety
P4. communicate clearly with others, giving appropriate information, instruction and advice so that they do not compromise the sterile field
P5. effectively monitor the activities of the surgical team and anticipate their requirements for surgical instrumentation and supplementary items
P6. handle surgical instrumentation and supplementary items correctly and safely, ensuring the sterile field and individual safety is not compromised when handing them to the surgical team
P7. promptly clarify any uncertainty over requirements with the appropriate member of the surgical team where you identify a problem in relation to:
a. an instrument or item
b. the sterile field
c. contamination of instruments
P8. select and prepare the correct surgical instrumentation and supplementary items according to the clinical specialty and the anticipated requirements of the operative procedure
P9. count and record instruments, needles, swabs and supplementary items prior to commencement and on completion in accordance with organisational policies and procedures
P10. clearly inform the surgical team of the instrumentation and supplementary item counts at appropriate stages of the procedure
P11. dispose of and transfer used instrumentation and supplementary items to the non-sterile area for accounting and compliance with tracing requirements for medical devices in line with organisational procedures
P12. carefully remove drapes from the individual, ensuring their dignity and safety, and dispose of them in accordance with organisational procedures
P13. complete all relevant documentation required for providing surgical instrumentation and items for the surgical team and maintain the sterile field
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1. the current legislation, local guidelines, policies, procedures and protocols which are relevant to your work practice and to which you must adhere
K2. the scope and limitations of your own competence, responsibilities and accountability as it applies to your job role
K3. how to access and interpret all relevant work instructions and information
K4. specific procedures for reporting issues which are beyond your competence, responsibilities and accountability
K5. the hazards and risks which may arise during the execution of your work role and how you can minimise these
K6. the correct use of any equipment and PPE to protect the health and safety of you and others
K7. the principles of asepsis in relation to the provision of surgical instrumentation and supplementary items and the maintenance of the sterile field and the potential consequence of poor practice
K8. the sources, transmission routes and destruction of pathogenic organisms
K9. the nature and purpose of sterile fields and how they are established and maintained
K10. the importance of adhering to correct methods for passing items to, and receiving them from, the sterile team and the relevant practitioner
K11. how sterile fields may be compromised during procedures, and the action to take if this happens
K12. the safe methods of disposing of all types of waste from the sterile field
K13. the criteria and methods for judging the sterility of surgical instrumentation and supplementary items
K14. the types, purpose and function of surgical instrumentation and supplementary items in common use in the clinical specialties relevant to your practice
K15. the factors to consider in selecting surgical instrumentation and supplementary items
K16. the importance of adhering to manufacturers' instructions regarding the preparation of surgical instrumentation and supplementary items for surgery
K17. the importance of checking and confirming that surgical instrumentation and supplementary items are in a suitable condition prior to use
K18. the principles, methods and techniques for monitoring surgical instrumentation and supplementary items
K19. the specific times at which checks must be carried out on surgical instrumentation and supplementary items during use
K20. the importance of following procedures for the tracking and traceability of surgical instrumentation and supplementary items during use
K21. ways in which the sterile field can be compromised during hand-over of items, and how this can be avoided
K22. methods of effective communication with members of the perioperative care team during operative procedures
K23. the individual responsibilities of all clinical team members in relation to monitoring and accounting for surgical instrumentation and supplementary items use during clinical procedures
K24. how to complete the reports required for providing surgical instrumentation and items for the surgical team and maintain the sterile field in accordance with organisational requirements