obtained on that equipment rose from 11.3% to 33.3%.
The results show that having cleaning policies and procedures in
place is only partly effective, according to Dr. Carling. He says you
must also ensure your surgical team understands and is following
directives designed to optimize surface disinfection.
"One of the biggest challenges staff face when turning over rooms is
being efficient and effective," says Kathleen Pressimone, RN, CNOR, a
perioperative patient safety nurse at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical
Center in Baltimore, Md. "Everyone wants faster room turnovers with-
out sacrificing cleaning quality."
A study she co-authored in the American Journal of Infection
Control compared the contamination levels on an OR light (a low-
touch area) with other surfaces throughout the OR and found that
high-touch areas were more contaminated than the surgical light
(osmag.net/GCM2vt).
That's why Ms. Pressimone helped develop a cleaning checklist,
which includes reminders to wipe down not-so-obvious high-touch
surfaces like phones, door handles, light switches, monitor screens
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