Monitoring & QAQuestion 67 of 100
A biological indicator from this morning's steam load is positive. What is the first action?
a.Take the sterilizer out of service and immediately recall and quarantine the items from that load and from every load back to the last negative biological indicator
b.Repeat the test at the end of the shift and continue processing loads in the meantime
c.Discard the indicator as a false positive, since spore vials are unreliable
d.Notify the operating room that items may have been unsterile but allow already distributed items to be used
Explanation
A positive biological indicator means the process cannot be assumed to have been lethal, so the sterilizer is removed from service and every load processed since the last negative result is retrieved, quarantined, and reprocessed. Continuing to run loads or waiting to retest extends the exposure to patients. Positives are investigated, not assumed to be false, and previously distributed items must be located, not released for use.
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Related questions on this topic
- A supervisor asks a technician to assemble a process challenge device for the daily biological indicator test. What is a process challenge device?
- Where should the process challenge device be placed in a steam sterilizer chamber for routine biological monitoring?
- Which of the following are physical monitors of a sterilization cycle?
- After a positive biological indicator, the sterilizer is inspected, a probable cause is corrected, and testing resumes. What is generally required before the sterilizer returns to routine service?
- An implant is processed in a terminal steam cycle with a rapid-readout biological indicator. When may the implant be released?
- A recall requires the department to trace every package from a suspect cycle. What information must the load record contain?
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