First-of-its-Kind Study Released at the SGNA 36th Annual Conference Reveals Inconsistency in GI Endoscope Re...( ST. LOUIS May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Pr...),Health

ST. LOUIS, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Preliminary results from the first-of-its-kind Clinical Evaluation and Assessment of Endoscope Reprocessing (CLEANR) study was released today at the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates, Inc. (SGNA) 36th Annual Conference in St. Louis, MO. The study indicated that while there are written endoscope reprocessing guidelines in place at the sites who participated in the study, significant variation in manual reprocessing takes place, leading to challenges with achieving consistent gastrointestinal (GI) endoscope reprocessing practices. The observational study was led by Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, of Ofstead & Associates, Inc., a healthcare research firm, and sponsored by Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP). Other key employee-related findings included:

• Majority of experienced workers "disliked" some of the manual reprocessing tasks;
• 70 percent felt pressure to work quickly;
• More than half experienced discomfort associated with reprocessing;
• Employees indicated that using more automated systems provided increased consistency and better compliance-related documentation than manual processing.

According to Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, lead researcher, "This study shows that institutions have adopted written GI endoscope reprocessing guidelines, yet there are clearly suboptimal practices and wide variations in adherence within and between institutions. Our findings indicate the majority of employees experience occupational health problems attributed to reprocessing, and many of them dislike tasks associated with manual cleaning. We found that automation improves consistency and employee satisfaction. In accordance with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, every facility should reexamine its practices, and seek ways to improve occupational health and reduce in
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