Many reports of hospital acquired infections have been related to contaminated water in hospitals. The most commonly reported water pathogens are Legionella, Pseudomonas, and mycobacteria. Any contamination of the rinse water will inevitably lead to contamination of the endoscope regardless of the potency, strength, or effectiveness of the preceding cleaning process or of the liquid chemical germacide, automated endoscope reprocessor (AER), or automated processing system. Bacteria free water is supplied to the AER via a filtration/sterilization system that purifies incoming tap water. Currently there is no measure of quality to assess that this final rinse water is in fact bacteria free. How do we know when a filter has reached its useful life? We do know from current literature that the plumbing in many AERs are contaminated with biofilm and have been the causative agent in infectious outbreaks. What is the best way to protect our patients from this contamination? This presentation will address these questions and more.

Section Description

We are pleased to present the abstracts from sgna's 36th annual course, SGNA: your gateway to opportunity. The diversity of these topics certainly reflects the richness and breadth of our specialty. in keeping with the tradition of the annual course, we hope the following abstracts will encourage discussions for improving nursing practice and patient care outcomes.