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I N F E C T I O N
P R E V E N T I O N
Product and practice
A few years ago, an intern from the Minnesota Technical Assistance
Program reviewed our disinfection protocols and products. As a
result of her work, we decided to start using concentrated cleaners in
reusable bottles, and to use a cleaner that required less contact time
to be effective. The project projected savings over $10,000 annually in
our 5-OR, 2-endoscopy suite, 13-patient room facility.
During the conversion, our director of facilities kept us on track. We
had 4 or 5 different cleaning sprays, 2 different metal cleaners — and it
varied by department. So the director of facilities would come into our
departments and have us pull all our fluid items and remind us that we
weren't supposed to be using products X and Y. We all have our own
order sheets, but they suddenly listed only the products we'd consolidated to, standardized for every department. In the end, we got down
to 1 cleaning spray, an EPA-registered quaternary disinfectant cleaner.
It's rinse-free, neutral-pH and has a contact time of 3 minutes. So it's
easy to use, environmentally friendly and fast-acting.
I can't stress how important this is: If you want staff to do surface
disinfection right, give them products that work with the fast pace of
the OR and appeal to their sensibilities. We used to use a metal cleaner with an overpowering odor that, if it got on the floor, was very slippery. Staff presented the issue, so we changed products. If staff don't
like something, they won't use it — or won't use it well.
We've also moved from standard cotton-loop mops to mops with
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | F E B R U A R Y 2013
