The post-operative and upon-discharge process of room cleaning used to protect the patient and environment from disease-producing organisms traveling from one patient to another is known as
medical asepsis.
Which of the following solutions is a bactericidal, virucidal, and tuberculocidal high-level disinfectant approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for terminal cleaning of the operating room?
sodium hypochlorite
In preparation of surgical instruments for transport, decontamination, and reprocessing, the surgical technologist should
separate sharps and specials from general instruments into a tray or basin.
Who is responsible for monitoring the operating room's compliance with standard precautions regarding the correct disposal of contaminated sharps after a surgical procedure?
OSHA
The surgical team is performing a postoperative case debriefing following a sentinel event in which a patient was given a near-fatal dose of heparin. During the debriefing, the anesthesia provider presents the team with data obtained from the Council on S
The CSPS is a multidisciplinary surgical organization focused on safe perioperative patient care.
After a surgical procedure, infectious waste is separated from all other waste and placed in
red biohazard disposable bags.
Following the last case of the day, the surgical technologist is participating in terminal cleaning of the operating room suite. Which of the following should be wiped down and disinfected first?
OR lights
How are suction tips, like the Frazier suction, prepared for sterilization?
Distilled water is left inside the lumen.
Immediately following an anterior cervical discectomy, the patient complains of numbness and an inability to move the upper extremities. Which of the following post-operative complications would be responsible for these neurological changes?
hemorrhage and swelling around the spinal cord
Which of the following actions should be taken during the post-operative phase of a case?
The OR floor should be decontaminated according to facility policy.
Which of the following statements about surgical dressings is true?
Wet-to-wet dressings provide minimal wound debridement.
Which members of the surgical team are responsible for reporting and documenting the total amount of local anesthetic used during a surgical procedure?
1 and 4 only
The anesthesiologist decides not to remove the endotracheal tube. What additional equipment is supplied for transport?
Ambu bag
According to CDC-NIOSH guidelines, which of the following is the correct technique for disposing of contaminated hypodermic needles from the sterile field?
Place uncapped needles in a puncture-proof biohazardous sharps container.
The surgeon requests a neck brace to stabilize the cervical spinal fusion immediately post-op. What type of spinal brace is commonly used for the neck?
Philadelphia collar
Which of the following is a post-operative complication that can be attributed to surgical glove powder entering into the wound?
granuloma formation
What is the goal of terminal decontamination?
to prevent disease transmission
Which of the following specimens must be transported to the pathology department inside a container packed in ice?
muscle biopsy
Which of the following is an example of a sentinel event requiring root-cause analysis and postoperative case debriefing?
retained foreign object
A 28-year-old female patient has under gone a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In the PACU, she begins to complain of discomfort in the right upper abdomen and right shoulder. Which of the following is the most likely source of her complaint?
The CO2 can be irritating to nerves, causing severe post-operative discomfort in the right upper abdomen and right shoulder region.
The surgical technologist is preparing instruments for decontamination after a case has ended. Ringed instruments are placed in a basin of disinfectant to soak. At the decontamination area, this basin should be
placed in an empty sink.
What should the surgical technologist do with instruments that were opened for a surgical procedure but did not come into contact with the patient's blood, tissue, or body fluids?
Place opened and disassembled into a clean instrument tray.
The surgeon requests a conforming occlusive dressing for a closed midline incision. Which of the following describes the correct dressing order from inner to outer layer?
Telfa, gauze, stretch tape
A post-operative complication that often requires immediate surgical intervention after a crush injury to the right forearm is
swelling causing compartment syndrome.
Before the surgical drapes are removed, what action should the technologist do FIRST?
Cover the intermediate dressing
Disposal of remaining fluids from the surgical case should be
suctioned into vacuum canisters
Why should the surgical technologist maintain the integrity of the sterile field after a thyroidectomy?
An emergency tracheotomy may be necessary if the airway becomes obstructed as a result of an injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
Biohazard waste disposal is a costly charge per weight. What part can the surgical technologist play in reducing this cost to the surgery center budget?
Put waste that is not visibly soiled into a clear trash bag
Which of the following is the correct way to remove contaminated drapes after the surgical procedure?
The drapes are rolled inward from the head of the patient toward the feet to confine any biohazardous material inside the drape.
Which of the following is a severe, life-threatening bleeding disorder that occurs after a cesarean section?
disseminated intravascular coagulation
The environmental cleaning principle of decontamination is best defined as a process that
removes infectious agents
Endothelial specimens retrieved from a patient via brush biopsy should be transported to the pathology department in
saline.
Which of the following statements regarding terminal cleaning and disinfection of the operating room suite is correct?
Hypochlorite solidifier may be added to liquid-filled suction canisters prior to disposal.
As the surgical technologist applies clean, warm blankets post-operatively, blood is noticed on the dressing. What should be the immediate action?
Apply pressure to the wound
Unused supplies at the end of the case are
put in the return bin.
A primary reason for reporting and documenting the type and amount of local anesthetic used during a surgical procedure is to facilitate monitoring of the patient postoperatively for complications that may arise from adverse drug actions. Which of the fol
bupivacaine
Following a sentinel event involving the intraoperative death of a surgical patient, the hospital risk management department has called members of the operating room staff to participate in a debriefing. Which of the following members of the surgical team
2 and 4 only
The surgical technologist practices safe disposal of sharps in the following manner. All sharps are
counted and maintained into a self-closing box.
What special consideration should the operating room staff remember when transferring a patient from the operating room table to the stretcher?
Intravenous lines and other tubing (such as Foley catheter, wound tubes, and chest tubes) should be free of tension during the transfer.
To achieve local anesthesia of the right upper extremity in preparation for carpal tunnel release, the surgeon performs a Bier block using 50 mL of 0.5% lidocaine hydrochloride without epinephrine. At the conclusion of the procedure, the surgeon injects a
300 mg
Who is responsible for determining when the patient is ready for transport to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)?
anesthesia provider
Which of the following is the correct procedure for removing a contaminated gown after the surgical procedure?
Grasp the gown near the shoulders and roll the gown away from the body.
A patient with traumatic brain injury is admitted to the PACU and receives a head-to-toe assessment. This assessment focuses on specific criteria, including respiration, circulation, pain, and level of consciousness. Which of the following would best asse
Glasgow Coma Scale
Before new equipment enters or leaves the operating room, it must be
disinfected.
After the surgical drapes are removed, the surgical technologist will
clean the wound area of blood and debris.
As the endotracheal tube is removed, the gag reflex is stimulated, causing the patient to cough uncontrollably. This results in a dehiscence of the abdominal wound. What immediate action should the surgical technologist take?
Prepare to re-open the sterile field.
The surgical technologist is preparing a permanent section specimen for transport to the laboratory department at the completion of a procedure. Which of the following protocols is correct?
Two specific patient indicators should be clearly written or printed on the specimen container.
Which of the following patients is more likely to develop a post-operative wound infection?
a patient with a compound fracture
At the end of the case, soiled counted sponges should be placed in
a kick bucket lined with a biohazard bag
What post-operative complication can occur after a tonsillectomy?
excessive bleeding from the tonsil bed
The post-operative phase of the surgical procedure begins when the
wound has been cleaned and the sterile dressing is applied
To prevent a post-operative hematoma formation after a mastectomy, the surgeon will insert a
Jackson-Pratt drain through a separate stab incision