Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T04:27:39.421Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 26 - Fundamentals of the Surgical Scrub Role

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2022

By
Lindsay Keeley
Edited by
Daniel Rodger ,
Kevin Henshaw ,
Paul Rawling  and
Scott Miller
Daniel Rodger
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer in Perioperative Practice, London South Bank University
Kevin Henshaw
Affiliation:
Associate Head of Allied Health Professions, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk
Paul Rawling
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer in Perioperative Practice, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk
Scott Miller
Affiliation:
Consultant Anaesthetist, St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust
Get access

Summary

This chapter identifies and explains the fundamental role and responsibilities of the perioperative practitioner essential to the surgical scrub role; this includes surgical counts, sharps safety, specimen managements, and waste disposal. The scrub practitioner is a recognised member of the perioperative team, performing a crucial role in preparing the operating theatre environment for surgical procedures. They must ensure it is clean, ready, and safe to receive the surgical patient. The scrub practitioner should possess the requisite technical and non-technical skills, and theoretical underpinning knowledge of anatomy and physiology to optimally perform their role.

Keywords

SurgeryWaste managementSharpsHand hygieneClinical specimensFrozen sectionsErrorCountsScrubInfection control
Type
Chapter
Information
Fundamentals of Operating Department Practice , pp. 287 - 300
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Perioperative Care Collaborative Position Statement. The role of the perioperative healthcare assistant in the surgical care team. Available from: www.afpp.org.uk/news/The_Perioperative_Care_Collaborative_Position_Statement.Google Scholar
Perioperative Care Collaborative Position Statement. The role of the surgical first assistant. The Perioperative Care Collaborative, 2018.Google Scholar
The Association for Perioperative Practice. Standards and Recommendations for Safe Perioperative Practice. Harrogate: AfPP, 2022.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. WHO guidelines for safe surgery 2009: safe surgery saves lives. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44185/9789241598552_eng.pdf;jsessionid=FC669EE9CA17F90C626BF4FD1D12A9DB?sequence=1.Google Scholar
NHS England. National safety standards for invasive procedures (NatSSIPs), 2015. Available from: www.england.nhs.uk/patientsafety/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2015/09/natssips-safety-standards.pdf.Google Scholar
Wicker, P. and O’Neil, J.. Caring for the Perioperative Patient, 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Association for Perioperative Practice. AfPP standards and recommendations: infection control. Available from: www.afpp.org.uk/news/AfPP_Standards_and_Recommendations-Infection_Control.Google Scholar
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Surgical site infections: prevention and treatment, 2019. Available from: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng125/resources/surgical-site-infections-prevention-and-treatment-pdf-66141660564421.Google Scholar
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. Recommended practices for sponge sharps and instrument counts. AORN Journal 2006; 83: 418–433.Google Scholar
Loveday, H. P., Wilson, J., Pratt, R. J., et al. epic3: national evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare-associated infections in NHS hospitals in England. Journal of Hospital Infection 2014; 86: S1–S70.Google Scholar
Association for Perioperative Practice. Accountable items, swab, instrument, and sharps count. Available at: www.afpp.org.uk/careers/Standards-Guidance.Google Scholar
Phillips, N. M. and Hornacky, A.. Berry and Kohn’s Operating Room Technique, 14th ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier, 2020.Google Scholar
Rothrock, J. C.. Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery 2018, 16th ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier, 2018.Google Scholar
Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Duty of candour Part 3 Section 2.20. Available from: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111117613/contents.Google Scholar
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Directive 2010/32/EU – prevention from sharp injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector. Available from: https://osha.europa.eu/en/legislation/directives/council-directive-2010-32-eu-prevention-from-sharp-injuries-in-the-hospital-and-healthcare-sector.Google Scholar
Health and Safety Executive. Workplace health, safety and welfare regulations 1992: approved code of practice and guidelines, Available from: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l24.pdf.Google Scholar
Royal College of Nursing. Sharps safety. Available from: www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-004135.Google Scholar
Association of Surgical Technologist. AST guidelines for best practices for sharps safety and use of the neutral zone, 2017. Available from: www.ast.org/uploadedFiles/Main_Site/Content/About_Us/Standard_Sharps_Safety_Use_of_the_Neutral_Zone.pdf.Google Scholar
Health and Safety Executive. Health and safety (sharp instruments in healthcare) regulations 2013. Available from: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsis7.htm.Google Scholar
Association for Perioperative Practice. Accountable Items, Swab, Instrument and Needle Count (Clinical Guideline 8.1) in Standards and Recommendations for Safe Perioperative Practice, 4th ed. Harrogate: AfPP, 2016.Google Scholar
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Report a problem with a medicine or medical device. Available from: www.gov.uk/report-problem-medicine-medical-device (accessed January 2021).Google Scholar
NHS Employers. NHS Employers: managing the risks of sharps injuries (December 2015). Available at: www.pslhub.org/learn/culture/staff-safety/nhs-employers-managing-the-risks-of-sharps-injuries-december-2015-r4438/.Google Scholar
Mast, S. T., Woolwine, J. D., and Geberding, J. L.. Efficacy of gloves in reducing blood volumes transferred during simulated needlestick injury. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1993;168: 1589–1592.Google Scholar
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Available at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/16/contents/enacted.Google Scholar
Safety Management: Ensuring consistent standards. British Standards Institution. Safety Management. 2019. Available at: www.britsafe.org/publications/safety-management-magazine/safety-management-magazine/2018/ensuring-consistent-standards-after-brexit/.Google Scholar
Human Tissue Act 2004. Available from: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/30/contents.Google Scholar
Human Tissue Authority. Guidance on the disposal of pregnancy remains. Available from: www.hta.gov.uk/guidance-professionals/regulated-sectors/post-mortem/guidance-sensitive-handling-pregnancy-remains.Google Scholar
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended 2004). Available from: www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/ocs/200-299/273_20.Google Scholar
The Royal College of Pathologists. Code of practice for histocompatibility and immunogenetics (H&I) services, May 2005. Available from: www.rcpath.org/uploads/assets/00cf0560-a182-4c72-a015c5b335e090f7/Code-of-practice-for-pathology-services-and-departments-May-2005.pdf.Google Scholar
Fitzgibbons, P. L. and LiVolsi, V. A.. Recommendations for handling radioactive specimens obtained by sentinel lymphadenectomy. American Journal of Surgical Pathology 2000; 24: 1549–1551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coventry, B. J., Collins, P. J., Kollias, J., et al. Ensuring radiation safety to staff in lymphatic tracing and sentinel lymph node biopsy surgery: some recommendations. Journal of Nuclear Medicine & Radiation Therapy 2012; DOI 10.4172/2155-9619.S2-008.Google Scholar
Royal College of Nursing. The management of waste from health, social and personal care. Available from: www.herefordshireccg.nhs.uk/library/infection-prevention-and-control/sharps-and-waste/1092-rcn-waste-guidelines-april-14/file.Google Scholar
Department of Health. Environment and sustainability Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: safe management of healthcare waste. Available from: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/167976/HTM_07-01_Final.pdf.Google Scholar
The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. Available from: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3232/pdfs/uksi_19993232_en.pdf.Google Scholar
Association for Perioperative Practice. Theatre Etiquette: A Guide to Theatres. Harrogate: AfPP, 2021.Google Scholar
Environment Agency 2008. Hazardous Waste: Interpretation of the Definition and Classification of Hazardous Waste WM2, 2nd ed., version 2.2. Bristol: The Environment Agency.Google Scholar
Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. Available from: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1559/contents/made.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×