home or community.
AORN further states
that home laundering
is not monitored for
quality, consistency
or safety, and that
home laundering
may not reliably kill
all pathogens and the
pathogens may sur-
vive in the form of biofilms within the washing machine.
The director of anesthesia at a Colorado medical center scoffs at the
idea that home laundry facilities can't adequately disinfect scrubs: "My
water temperature is much greater at home than the facility we cur-
rently use." Adds another reader: "In 40 years of being in the OR, I've
never heard of washing scrubs at home causing an infection to patient
or provider."
A perceived double standard doesn't help. Many readers say laun-
dering rules aren't uniformly enforced. "Surgeons and anesthesia
providers wear their scrubs in from home 95% of the time, and it does
not affect the infection rates," says a Texas director of nursing. Chuck
Dawson, BSN, RN, MBA, agrees. "Show me a study that provides evi-
dence that home laundering scrubs results in demonstrably higher
infection rates," says Mr. Dawson, the director of surgery at Iberia
(La.) Medical Center.
Feeling the heat
AORN's recommendation that ORs be kept between 68° and 75°F is
another guideline that gets practitioners steamed, with many arguing
that uncomfortably hot surgeons in hot gowns are more dangerous to
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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
z TOP NOTCH? Do single-use disposable caps really provide
better protection than cloth caps? No way, say many readers.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
