okay you've got your supplies you're
ready for your first dressing change but
you're feeling a little nervous or maybe
you haven't done one for a while well
not to worry we're gonna go over how to
set up your sterile dressing field right
after this welcome back my name is Tammy
and this is nurse minder and on this
channel we do everything nursing from
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let's get into the skill of setting up a
sterile field
there are several principles of
sterility and we're going to go over
those as we create our workstation so
let's get started alright so after we've
cleaned the clutter we are going to make
sure the surface of our workspace is
clean you need a clean glove a
disinfecting wipe and you're gonna scrub
that surface removing the old and
discarding it and then cleaning your
hands with alcohol rub in between
letting them air dry next grab your
sterile dressing tray and tear along the
perforated edge in the plastic putting
your tray on the table so what's
important to remember here is the
principle of sterility that says we
never reach over our sterile field so if
you're opening your trade this way turn
it around so that when you lift that
first flap it is away from you and that
will help us maintain that principle
we're going to continue to unfold these
flaps and what we notice as we unfold
the last flap is there is a sterile
transfer forcep it is okay to use your
clean hands on the end and ensure that
you keep forceps pointed down to
maintain sterile tips now the
transferred forceps are going to help us
organize our work station we're going to
remove the drape and the garbage bag and
then I'm going to take the transfer
forceps to grab on to my working forceps
and put them to the one inch border of
my drape the one inch border of my
sterile drape is considered contaminated
and is where I will put the handle of my
forceps
the next I'm going to remove my two by
twos and four by four so that my tray is
empty and it can be an additional
workspace at this point the blue
transfer forceps are no longer needed
I'm going to discard them so let's check
our solution one last time review the
expiry date and get ready to pour the
next principle says remove your lid and
leave it facing up we're going to put
the label into the palm of our hand
we're going to position above the tray
but we do not want to touch it and close
enough so that we can pour without
creating a splash if we were to splash
onto the drape that would be considered
contaminated and you would need to start
again
so I'm placing my clean bottle on the
clean surface not in the sterile field
recapping it so that I can begin working
with my sterile contents at this point
we need to decide sterile technique or
clean to sterile technique if you want
to use sterile technique go ahead and
get your sterile gloves ready at this
point and if you're not sure how to put
them on I have a video to help you out
with that in the clean to sterile
technique you can use your clean hand to
grab the outer edge of your forcep
within that 1-inch border of your
sterile drape keep your tips down and
begin to work with your sterile dressing
to prepare our first 2 by 2 to clean a
wound we're going to need to make this
into a thicker wad of gauze so we're
going to make what we call a wanton
bring in the opposing edges together and
then collect the remaining edges in
towards the center so that we now have a
thicker two by two mask to work with dip
it into your saline solution and if
there's too much water on there you have
your third drawer in your sterile
dressing tree to squeeze out excess now
you're ready to clean the wound let's
look at the wanton again we're going to
gather opposing edges together secure
those bring in your remaining edges
gather that collection of gauze together
and now we have our want on a quick dip
a shake squeeze out the excess and
you're ready to go okay so let's say you
need to put your forceps down for a
moment remember you have that 1-inch
border in which you can place the
contaminated component of your for set
down on keeping the tips sterile
there are some common ways people
contaminate their field one is it is out
of sight you need to be having a
physician beside you so you can work on
the patient simultaneously anything
below the waist is considered
contaminated if you spill on your drape
or your drape is wet it's considered
contaminated and only sterile items
belong in the sterile field so if you
place a clean item in there it's
contaminated and you'll have to start
again
okay so let's have a little fun you feel
I'm confident about your sterile
technique so now I'm gonna play a little
bit of a video that has a few errors
let's just say and I'm hoping that you
can pick them out comment below with the
ones that you notice I will share that
these are things I see in practice and
they need to be corrected
so there you have the principles of
sterility I hope you found all those
errors in that clip make sure you
subscribe below comment let me know how
this video worked for you give me a
thumbs up if you liked it and I've got
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greatest from nurse minder until next
time make it a great day