Sterility Guideline Question

[torah1rn]

Hi. I'm a circulator in a 5 room OR. I have a couple of specific questions that I have been unable to easily and readily find guidelines for.

1. How long can a room be open and still considered sterile? I thought it was no more than 2 hours from the time a room in opened until it has to be broken down if not put to use.

2. If a patient enters the OR room and is taken out to be brought back later, does the room have to be broken down and reopened or can the same instruments opened be used for that same patient after they have left the OR and returned?

[SoldierNurse]

Originally Posted by torah1rn

Hi. I'm a circulator in a 5 room OR. I have a couple of specific questions that I have been unable to easily and readily find guidelines for.

1. How long can a room be open and still considered sterile? I thought it was no more than 2 hours from the time a room in opened until it has to be broken down if not put to use.

2. If a patient enters the OR room and is taken out to be brought back later, does the room have to be broken down and reopened or can the same instruments opened be used for that same patient after they have left the OR and returned?

AORN, as well as your unit's policy & procedure manual is your best guide[s].

1. See statement above.

2. IMHO, treat the bring back as a new OR case thus start all over just like a new case.

[torah1rn]

1. do you know what the aorn guidelines is?

2. even if the instruments haven't been touched? that is, the patient was wheeled in, transferred to the OR bed, then transferred back to the stretcher and wheeled out of the room. the plan was to bring the patient back to the same room. the instruments were never touched. does that require a complete break down and resetup? i don't know what IMHO stands for...

[SoldierNurse]

Originally Posted by torah1rn

1. do you know what the aorn guidelines is?

2. even if the instruments haven't been touched? that is, the patient was wheeled in, transferred to the OR bed, then transferred back to the stretcher and wheeled out of the room. the plan was to bring the patient back to the same room. the instruments were never touched. does that require a complete break down and resetup? i don't know what IMHO stands for...

IMHO = In My Humble Opinion.

AORN Guidelines Resource

You need to rely first & foremost on your OR's P&P manual.