Guidelines in Practice: Sterilization

Proper sterilization of instruments and medical devices is important in ensuring patient safety and preventing surgical site infections. Adhering to the manufacturer's written instructions for use of an item, its packaging, and the sterilizer is essential to ensure instruments and medical devices are properly sterilized. Quality assurance measures should be used to evaluate and monitor sterilization processes and increase patient safety. The recently updated AORN "Guideline for sterilization" provides perioperative nurses with guidance for processing, transporting, and storing reusable medical devices for use in perioperative and procedural settings. This article provides an overview of the guideline and discusses recommendations for selection of a processing method, transport and storage of sterile items, steam sterilization, and quality. It also includes a scenario describing specific concerns related to quality assurance and steam sterilizer maintenance. Perioperative nurses should review the guideline in its entirety and apply the recommendations when processing reusable medical devices.