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Some UV robots can disinfect a room in 4-minute cycles without warm-
up or cool-down times, but other whole-room disinfection technologies
can take more than 20 minutes. For facilities that run on fast turnovers,
that's a few extra minutes too many.
At St. Cloud (Minn.) Surgical Center, they roll a germ-zapping robot
into the OR between cases only if the room is transitioning from a dirty
to a clean case. With a 7-foot UV radius, the clean cycle time is 8 min-
utes when 2 robots are used simultaneously, 16 for one, says Julie
Tonsager, RN, the OR team lead. The center deploys the robots in every
room at day's end following terminal cleaning, including the lobby.
"It's not used between every case because of the turnover time. But
when we do use them between cases, I can't say it slows us down
much," says Ms. Tonsager, whose facility purchased 2 robots when it
began doing total joint cases. "The majority of time we run both (robots)
simultaneously. If a doctor has to wait, he understands."
For joint cases, St. Cloud deploys a robot 3 times: before they open
the case, just before patient entry when all sterile packs and supplies
are open for the procedure, and in the patient recovery room while the
patient is undergoing the procedure.
Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville, Ky., has 3 UV robots, but using
them between every case isn't workable yet, says Kristin Pickerell,
DNP, RN, NE-BC, CPHQ, director of quality and clinical effectiveness.
"That's something we've talked about, but our turnaround time is a
big focus for us. We have it down to the minute about how long it should
take to flip a room between cases," says Ms. Pickerell. "This was adding
time on. Right now, we're just using the robots after the terminal clean
process. " — Dan Dunkin
BETWEEN CASES OR AT DAY'S END?
When to Use Whole-Room Disinfection
