Set Up and Tear Down

Monday 8/29

Clinic has been really simple until today. Our PE for today was how to set up and tear down your station. I am having a really hard time with remembering what goes where and when.

SET UP: You start by dusting all the equipment in your station withwith a damp paper towel and PPE on. I have never done this before in the office I worked at. We had a lady who cleaned the office weekly and would dust everything. I can say this definitely makes the station look REALLY good and clean. On the patient's side, I like it because I'm not worrying about how the office isn't clean. Next we sterilize anything we might touch, and run the water from the A/W syringe line (2 minutes) to clear out any germs that might be caught.

Barriers= Overdone
Before putting any barriers on make sure to take your gloves off and disinfect your hands. With all the equipment we have and precautions we take, we use more barriers than is needed. We put a cover on anything that we might touch (or even look at: jk). This includes: counter top, operator chair adjustment levers, bracket tray, A/W syringe, evacuator and saliva ejector heads, pt. arm-rest buttons, light switch, mirror, mouse to computer, and much much more. It is nice to know that we are taking every precaution to keep our patients, loved ones, and ourselves as healthy as possible.

The patient then comes into the office and rinses their mouth for 30 seconds with mouthwash. This helps eliminate aerosols. While the patient is doing that, we open the sterile instruments without touching them with our bare hands. (if you open before pt. gets there, cover with bib.) Seat the patient, and provide protective eye wear that has been sterilized. After that put back on your PPE and avoid direct gloved-hand contact with contaminated surfaces (especially mask, eyewear, hair, patient chart). After the appointment, remove gloves, and sanitize hands. Avoid contact with dropped instuments.


TEAR DOWN: Now it's time for the hard part. After the pt. walks out and charts are done, we start our cleanup by putting on our PPE. Run water through the blue boa and detach. Remove and discard A/W syringe and evacuator tips. Next you put all your biohazards in the correct waste container. (fluid soaked in a contaminated disposable supplies in biohazard bag)

Now you want to place the instuments in a cassette and take to the clean-up area on a tray. Run them through the ultrasoniccleaner for 15 minutes. After, wipe down the tray and put take it back to your station. Go back after 15 minutes and take out the cassette without placing hands in the solution. rinse and blot with paper towel. Put the instruments into the correct size bag, write your name and number on it, and place into the sterilization bin so it's standing on edge.

Back at the station, you will reglove and disinfect all surfaces that may have been contaminated by touch or aerosols. discard all disposable items and wax the metal equipment. At the end of the day, run the lines with solution for one minute.

* This PE was very difficult to me. Although I have already worked in an office and have the experience of set up and tear down, it is intimidating to learn it all in a new place and to remember every little step. This one will take a lot of practice in order to pass this one.