variations in hair removal practices. Read on to see how your hair
removal practices stack up against professional guidelines and how
you compare to your colleagues.
1. Should you even remove hair?
Are you removing hair more frequently than you should? It's likely,
since 5% of survey respondents say they remove hair for every case
and another 36% say they do so for most cases. Most professional
organizations recommend leaving hair alone. AORN's skin prepping
guidelines — updated last year — say you should leave hair in place
at the surgical site unless it will interfere with the procedure. This
falls in line with the latest clinical research on hair removal. For
example, in one large study of nearly 24,000 surgical wounds,
researchers found that patients who were shaved with a razor had a
2.3% infection rate, while those who were clipped had a 1.7% infection
rate. Those who had hair left in place had only a 0.9% infection rate
(osmag.net/6RZgqZ).
2. Where do you remove hair?
When you remove hair, AORN guidelines state that you should do it
outside of the operating or procedure room. While about two-thirds
(65%) of our survey respondents remove hair in pre-op, one-third
(33%) say that they do so in the OR. For them, it's often a matter of
convenience. "Staff and surgeons prefer to do it in the OR because it's
better lighting, the patient is more relaxed and it's more private," says
an infection preventionist from California. "Plus, the perception is that
it's easier to clean up hair in the OR."
However, most professional organizations discourage performing
the practice in the OR. According to AORN, when you remove hair in
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