Jan Davidson, RN, MSN, is the new AORN perioperative education specialist who has a focus on ambulatory surgery centers.
Q: Is there a regulatory guideline for disposing of suction canisters following GI endoscopy procedures? Our ASC currently disposes the suction canister following each procedure. I have two new GI MDs that think this is unnecessary. AORN supports this practice and I am in need of documentation to support this practice in the GI setting. Does such documentation exist?
Jan Davidson: There is not an AORN standard that specifically addresses this question. However, the cost of a suction canister is minimal in comparison to the cost of possible patient exposure when the same canister is used for multiple patients.
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The contents of the suction canister are considered a biohazard — period — and it just isn’t worth the risk to expose your patients to something completely preventable.
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