A study on the understanding of sterilisation in the central sterile services department by the healthcare personnel in a tertiary care hospital in Sikkim

Background: Globally, hundreds of millions of people are affected every year by avoidable infections in healthcare (healthcare-associated infections, [HAIs]). Through knowledge, best practices and infection prevention and control (IPC), we can prevent HAI to patients and health workers. Following recent threats caused by widespread epidemics and increasing awareness about the spread of antimicrobial resistance, several countries are paying more attention and investing resources to strengthening IPC infrastructures and improving practices. Objective: The objective was to assess the practices by the healthcare staff regarding the sterilisation process in the central sterilisation service department (CSSD) and to bring about improvements in the practices in the hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted where the healthcare staff were given a set of questionnaires on sterilisation in the CSSD. The staff who participated in the study included doctors, intensive care unit nursing staff, infection control nurses, operation theatre nursing staff, CSSD staff and outpatient department nursing staff. Results: The questionnaire was administered to 120 health staff. All the staff agreed that instruments should be cleaned at the source. The majority of the participants (82%) believed that medical devices should be reprocessed centrally in CSSD; however, very few of them (18%) have felt otherwise. Almost 70% of staff did not know about the indicators used in CSSD and the zones in CSSD. The expiry date of the items once received from CSSD, 60% said it is not mentioned on the pack and 40% of participants agreed that it is mentioned on the pack. Conclusion: The processes of sterilisation and decontamination are complex, require specific infrastructure and equipment and involve several steps that need to be correct, from device collection, receipt by the unit, processing, storage and distribution them throughout the facility. Quality control measures to evaluate the proper functioning of the equipment are of the utmost importance.