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Hi Michelle
There are a number of reasons who soluble alginate stitching bags are no longer used much. They tend to start dissolving the stitching when in contact with warm fluid, so they are not very good at containing body fluids. The plastic strip’s have to be manually taken from the washed load before it is placed in the dryer and it causes issues.
The main reason we previously used soluble bags inside cloth linen bags was to contain moisture, but as previously said thus doesn’t work that well. Many laundries now have either fluid resistant linen bags available,or allow facilities to put heavily soaked linen into clear plastic bags that can be decanted manually into washers.
We also used to use alginate stitched bags for cytotoxic linen, but now we use strong purple plastic bags which are carefully manually decanted by laundry staff, as the alginate bags would start to dissolve and create a hazard in transit to the laundry.
There may be some situations where alginate stitched bags are useful in used linen management, but we certainly no longer use them at all.
My thoughts, anyway, from a mainly acute care focus.
Cheers
Michael[Cross-posting from Infexion Connexion – Moderator]
Hello all,
I am also interested in this for ALL STAFF as I am working on a Quality improvement project for cleaning in our Hospital which has Aged Care and a Medical Clinic attached.
Kind regards,
Judith Penman
Infection Control Coordinator
Phone: 0260763296Email: Judith.Penman@corryonghealth.org.au
20 Kiell Street
Corryong
VIC“Together, Strengthening the Health of Our Community”
Corryong Health acknowledges the traditional owners of this land on which we stand and pay our respects to the elders, past, present and future, for
they hold the memories, the traditions and the culture of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people..
This communication is intended only to be read or used by the addressee. The information contained in this communication may be confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, interference with, distribution,
disclosure or copying of this material is unauthorised and prohibited. The confidentiality attached to this communication is not waived or lost by reason of the mistaken delivery to you. If you have received this communication in error,
please destroy it and notify the sender by return email.[Cross-posting from Infexion Connexion – Moderator]
Agree with Vanessa, Risk assessed and used if the risk of transfer of infection is low , however not using expired or damaged RATs
Rhonda Schatz
National Infection Prevention & Control Advisor
P +61293248720 | F 02 8241 1690 | M +61418118943
W http://www.opalhealthcare.com.au[Cross-posting form Infexion Connexion – Moderator]
Hi Vanessa,
Thank you so much for sharing your inputs on how you managed your expired PPEs and all that. This is of much help. I agree it may not be the best practice but this is better than not doing anything and dealing with too much unwanted wastage. The management of all expired PPE and how you approach it now lies to the organisation itself, I believed.
Thank you again. Much appreciated 🙂
Best regards,
Wadin Caneda
RN Div 1
IPC Nurse Lead / ANUMEuroa Health, 36 Kennedy Street Euroa VIC 3666
PO Box 126 Euroa VIC 3666
T +61 3 5795 0200 ❘ wadin.caneda@euroahealth.com.au[Cross-posting from Infexion Connexion – Moderator]
Hi Wandin
We have applied a risk-based approach to expired PPE.For example:
1) Nitrile gloves
have been put into general circulation for use when vinyl gloves would normally have been used.
Risk = same as using vinyl gloves for standard precautions.
Rationale = stock is in good condition (ie: not water or heat damaged, packaging is intact), and reduces environmental impact (not discarding just because of an expiry date).
2) Shields
Still in use for outbreaks despite any potential expiry date.
Risk = what impact would an expiry date have on the quality of the product?
Rationale = stock is in good condition (ie: not water or heat damaged, packaging is intact). Suspect impact to staff is low if used out of date but remains in good (new) condition. Consideration to environmental impact (not just discarding because of an expiry date).
3) Gowns
Still in use for any type of outbreak despite any potential expiry date.
Risk = What is the actual percentage of transmission of a microorganism via clothing which has become contaminated due to an out of date gown? OR are we just talking a theoretical possibility.
Rationale = stock is in good condition (ie: not water or heat damaged, packaging is intact), and impact to staff low if used out of date but remain in good (new) condition. Staff are going home, changing, and washing clothes at end of each shift. Reduction of environmental impact (not just discarding because of an expiry date).
This one is probably the most controversial, however the risk of transference would be low versus negligible if new and in date.
4) N95 masks
Not an issue, ours are all in date.
5) RATs
We have discarded cartons and cartons of test kits.
Risk = if an out-of-date RAT is used and incorrectly gives a negative result, thus the person enters the facility, spread and subsequently infect residents and staff resulting in an outbreak.
Rationale = they have a preservative which will wane in effectiveness over time and strict storage requirements cannot have been guaranteed (ie: power failure etc) they have been discarded.Hope this helps.
I know my response will be seen as NOT best practice, but this is what is really happening.Vanessa Watkins
RN, Quality Manager & IPC Lead
Donwood Community & Aged Care Services
11 Diana Street, Croydon 3136
9845 8509 (Mon – Thur)
vwatkins@donwood.com.au
http://www.donwood.com.au[Cross-posting from Infexion Connexion – Moderator]
Education for Cleaning Staff in Residential Aged Care
Hi All
I would be interested in this both for cleaning staff and for clinical staff.
Kind regards
Penny Birchmore
National Infection Prevention and Control coordinator, garrison health.
pcbirchmore@GMAIL.COM
