S K I N P R E P P I N G
AORN's new skin prepping guidelines will be
available for purchase online in July and
published in the 2015 edition of
Perioperative Standards and Recommended
Practices. They include extensive, systemat-
ic and recent analysis of evidence related to
patient skin preparation, which turned up
hundreds of published articles, of which 168
are cited. These are the included recom-
mendations and practices supported by the
strongest possible levels of evidence:
1.
Patients should bathe or shower with either
soap or a skin antiseptic on the night before
or the day of surgery.
2.
Whenever possible, leave hair at the surgi-
cal site in place.
3.
When hair at the surgical site has to be
removed, use clipping or depilatory meth-
ods.
4.
Use single-use clipper heads and dispose
of them after each patient use. Disinfect
reusable clipper handles after each use.
5.
When using depilatories, first test the skin
for allergy and irritation reactions in an
area away from the surgical site.
SNEAK PEEK
8 Prepping Keys Backed by Overwhelming Evidence
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