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Nursing Concerns in Medical Packaging

Have you ever struggled to open a bag of potato chips, only to have it burst open, sending its crispy contents flying? How many of us instead just reach for the scissors?

Could users of medical device packages have similar frustrations? You may already emphasize ease of use during package design. But are there any other sources of frustration you haven’t yet addressed?

You have what Jennifer Neid, certified packaging professional, calls the “chance of the lifetime” to find out. The Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) and the organizers of HealthPack 2008 are conducting exclusive research on medical device packaging. They will be surveying members of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) for specific feedback on how to make better medical device packages.

“If a nurse can’t figure out how to open a package quickly and easily, it may be opened improperly,” says Neid, who serves as upper Midwest/Canadian account manager for TOLAS Healthcare Packaging, an Oracle Packaging Company. Such
a situation could “render the device unsterile and/or
cause frustration or ill feelings toward the company that produces it.”

Some medical device packaging engineers have quizzed nurses on their likes and dislikes, and some may have even been lucky enough to visit an OR and talk to the nurses there, says Neid. However, “this would only give them the opinions of one room of operating room nurses. The benefits of hearing the feedback from the AORN survey will bring back the voice of a large audience of operating room nurses and provide a better sampling of opinions/likes/dislikes of the entire population.”

You have a chance to be a part of the research process. Neid, who is also IoPP’s MDPTC Education Committee and HealthPack Joint Survey chair, along with HealthPack co-chairs Curt Larsen and John Spitzley, need your help. They invite you to share your thoughts on information you’d like to have from AORN members that would help make your medical packages more effective.

Click here today to submit your questions to AORN members regarding medical device packaging issues. Several compelling questions have already been posed, but there is room for more. “Everyone has different questions--you will benefit from getting the answers to all of them,” says Neid.

We hope you will participate in the survey. But in case you aren’t able to submit questions, be sure to attend HealthPack 2008, March 4-6, 2008, in San Antonio, TX. The keynote speaker, Mary Jo Steiert, AORN’s president, will address her membership’s needs, issues, and requirements for medical device packaging, including:

•    Safety and sterility considerations.
•    Packaging efficacy in operating room and emergency situations.
•    Package integration in the operating room.

 Attendees will receive the results of this custom research survey.

What better way to nurse concerns in medical packaging?

Daphne Allen
Editor

 For conference details and registration, visit www.healthpack.net.

Flow-Limiting Bottle Insert
A device fits into the neck of a pharmaceutical bottle with slots designed to allow only one pill or capsule to be dispensed. The Flow-Limiter restricts the amount of product that can be released, avoiding spillage and potential exposure to microbes, pathogens, or other contamination. Molded with Advanced Desiccant Polymer, the device eliminates the need for a drop-in desiccant. The Flow-Limiter can be designed to the dimensions of a particular pill and bottle size and specific desiccation needs. Süd-Chemie Performance Packaging, Colton, CA; 800/966-1793; www.s-cpp.com.

UV Flexographic Printer
A newly redesigned UV flexographic in-line printing press produces text, bar codes, and graphics, registered or random, on web stocks employed in the blister packaging of tablets, capsules, and liquids. TruFlex UV uses rotary flexo-printing to provide coverage of both large solid areas and small details, including GS1 DataBar/composite bar code symbology. Solvent–free UV inks cure instantaneously when exposed to its integrated energy-saving UV lamp. The UV inks also minimize cleaning downtime with simple setup and shutdown procedures. The unit also features toolless exchange of print cylinders and a format-adjustment feature that matches print length to the index required. Griffin-Rutgers Company, Inc., Ronkonkoma, NY; 631/981-4141; www.griffin-rutgers.com.

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