T
he UV robots
come out at
night at Florida
Hospital Tampa. After the cleaning crew terminally
cleans the ORs, they wheel in their secret weapon
against infection: 5 germ-destroying robots whose intense ultraviolet
light, pulsing like a strobe, kills the pathogens that manually cleaning
might have missed.
"It's not a replacement for traditional terminal cleaning, but a safe-
guard for areas missed by human error," says Ralph Taylor, MS, MHA,
director of surgical services. "It's my safety blanket."
UV light disinfection is just one of a growing number of automated
technologies that finish the critical job of room disinfection and help
prevent healthcare-associated infections. Which whole-room disinfec-
7 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6
Missed
a Spot?
From UV robots to fogging
hydrogen peroxide vapor, a
review of your whole-room
disinfection options.
Sarah Handzel, BSN, RN
Contributing Editor
• HUMAN TOUCH Equipment and surfaces are frequently missed during a manual clean.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
