Yandan Wang,1 Xiulan Zhou,2 Yanqiu Zhu,1 Yuanmei Dan,1 Zeping Huang,1 Ling Xiang1 

1Department of Sterile Processing Nursing, Sichuan Friendship Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Nursing, Sichuan Friendship Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Yandan Wang, Department of Sterile Processing Nursing, Sichuan Friendship Hospital, 96 Shangshahepu Street, Jinjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610066, People’s Republic of China, Email 382902284@qq.com

Background: The quality of surgical instrument cleaning can affect patient safety. Pre-treatment is a key step in cleaning. This study investigated the effect of quality control circle (QCC) activities on reducing the failure rate of surgical instrument pre-treatment.
Methods: A QCC with a topic of reducing the failure rate of surgical instrument pre-treatment was established within the central sterile supply department of our hospital in January 2023. The failure rates of surgical instrument pre-treatment before and after the QCC activities were compared after problem investigation, target setting, critical factor analysis, root cause validation, and development and implementation of countermeasures.
Results: The failure rate of surgical instrument pre-treatment decreased significantly from 2.9% (46/1568) to 1.1% (11/989) after the implementation of QCC activities, with a statistically significant difference (χ2 = 2157, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: QCC activities provide a structured approach to analyzing the root causes of failures in surgical instrument pre-treatment and develop countermeasures, thereby improving the quality of instrument cleaning and ensuring patient safety. QCC activities could also improve team cohesion and develop staff’s problem-solving skills.

Keywords: quality control, surgical instruments, problem solving, factor analysis, statistical