International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology
CollabWritive Special Issue
2023 Volume 9 Issue 2
Available Online: 31 December 2023
Author/s:
Faral, Janet Macatangay
Graduate School, Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas, Philippines
Abstract:
Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and can be prevented by reprocessing reusable medical devices. This study aimed to determine the challenges experienced by healthcare workers during the reprocessing of reusable medical devices in the hospital setting in the Philippines and to formulate a practice-based guideline based on the identified challenges. A qualitative phenomenological design was used with healthcare workers employed in a government hospital in Lipa City who had experience in reprocessing medical devices. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. The results showed that the respondents identified challenges in each stage of reprocessing, including Inadequate cleaning due to unavailable or limited cleaning supplies, hard-to-clean medical devices due to design features and retained debris, unregulated disinfectant due to scarcity of supplies and unsterile soaking solution, perforated packaging and insufficient packaging supplies, limited medical-surgical devices, malfunctioning of medical devices, occasional weak water flow, lack of training, exposure to infectious substances, failure to clean the medical device immediately and adequately, malfunctioning of autoclave machine, unsterile and unorganized storage room. The study concluded that the availability of resources, management, and awareness of the respondents regarding proper reprocessing of medical devices greatly affects their compliance with proper reprocessing, which in turn significantly impacts patient safety and infection control. Recommendations were provided for the management of proper reprocessing in case healthcare workers encountered these challenges.
Keywords: decontamination, healthcare-associated infections, reprocessing, reusable medical device, surgical site infection
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2023.2009
Cite this article:
Faral, J. M. (2023). Challenges experienced by healthcare workers during reprocessing of medical devices. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 9(2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2023.2009