Laying Out An Instrument Trolley - Practical Task

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:54:29 GMT

Current Revision posted to Revision Guide For Student Nurses - Part 2 by Arlo Guthrie on 4/21/2009 8:54:29 AM

This task may have 2 stages:

Remove a sterile drape from a drum and place on the instrument trolley in a sterile manner.
Lay out a selection of instruments.

The first task is pretty straightforward and requires practice rather than a list of instructions here. Just a few pointers to remember:

Make a point of checking that the holes in the autoclaving drum are closed and that the sterilisation date is acceptable.
Ensure that the surface of the instrument trolley is clean and dry. If disinfectant and surgical spirit are available - use them!
The forceps used to handle the drape are called Cheatles and it is usual to use 2 pairs when handling drapes.
Remember that the drape is sterile - and if you do accidentally touch it, you would discard that drape and use
a fresh one.

The second part of the task usually involves the identification of some surgical instruments.