DO IT RIGHT EACH AND EVERY TIME – ISSUE NO. 393

This past Friday, I had the day off to start working on my Christmas list. On Thursday night, I was talking with my mother-in-law, Mama Lafata. She hadn't been shopping and, in fact, hasn't started her car in the last couple of days due to the snow storm. I told her I had the day off and I could start her car. We went shopping and spent the entire day together. Well, we went to Costco to shop and get gas, did some shoe shopping at DSW, used our coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond, had lunch and finished our day at the grocery store. While at the grocery store, we strolled up and down each aisle, checking off each item on our list and made it to the last aisle, the dairy section. When we found the eggs, I quickly selected the first dozen I found and placed them in our basket. Big mistake. Mama lafata politely informed me that when buying eggs I must first open the container and make sure that no eggs are broken. If some are broken I should not place them back, but rather find an employee to take them off the shelf. Now, you have to take my word for this, I know that's what I should do, but I was in such a hurry to get in the first available line. I forgot to do my quality check on my eggs. Yes, the eggs I picked did have a damaged shell and if I had not looked, I would have been angry when I got home to discover a broken egg. We all get rushed every day in what we do and forget to do quality checks or follow the IFU correctly. When we skip steps, we have issues. We just have to read the newspaper to see results of missing steps. "Dirty scope found and patients have to be contacted," for example. Just as I rushed picking my eggs, do not rush in your job of reprocessing medical devices. Take your time and complete all the steps (this includes doing your quality checks). Healthmark has products that can help you. From stringers for keeping your instruments open, to cleaning verification tests (quality check products), and tray liners for protection and wicking away moisture. These are just a few of many products we have that can help you and your staff. Check out our catalog and contact one of our team members to see how we can help you do your job correctly. Remember, you do not want your customers to find any "broken eggs" when they start their procedures.