few questions of any employee in the facility who's responsible for
room turnover, regardless of the location. I chat with staff in the oper-
ating rooms or procedure rooms, hallways, pre-op and PACU. Here
are 10 questions I like to ask.
1
What is the dwell/wet/kill time of
the product you're using to disinfect surfaces?
Answers vary depending on the facility and which staff mem-
bers are chatting with me. Disinfectant products include manufactur-
er's instructions for use, or IFUs. Most, if not all, cleaning agents (par-
ticularly the disinfectant wipes) have the IFUs written on the outside
of the container. While the print may be small, they're usually clear
about the dwell times for surface disinfection. Liquid products may
have the label imprinted on the bottle or a separate written IFU
attached to the bottle when shipped to the facility. Many disinfectant
wipes today have a "cheat code" on the outside of the container that
includes a number contained within a circle. That number indicates
the length of time that the product needs to remain wet on the sur-
face. Given that there are many different products with different color
containers and lids, always look at the labels on the containers. These
products won't work effectively unless surfaces are allowed to remain
wet for the required time.
2
How do you know that the surface has
remained wet for the correct amount of time?
Once again, various answers are given, including "I don't know,"
"I wait until it looks dry" and "I estimate the time." I'll look around the
room for a clock or look at my watch and that will usually elicit the
response, "we need to time it." The introduction of disinfecting agents
that require less of a dwell time helps staff achieve faster room
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 5
