• Always make
sure our hands are
as clean as possible,
and that we clean
vial tops before we
draw up drugs.
Caught red-
handed
Some providers still
don't fully appreciate
the severity of the problem — who don't accept or understand the fre-
quency with which we may be inadvertently injecting microbes into
patients. Now we have another layer of information, one that adds to
the growing body of literature and says we have to do better. Beyond
merely suggesting our roles in SSIs and infectious processes, this most
recent study actually implicates us at the scene of the crime.
OSM
Dr. Biddle (cjbiddle@vcu.edu) is a professor and staff anesthetist in the
departments of Anesthesiology and Nurse Anesthesia at Virginia
Commonwealth Medical Center in Richmond, Va.
J U N E 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 2 9
• ENEMY WITHIN Researchers found that 16% of syringes were contaminated by microorganisms that
could have reached patients.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
