1 2 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7
If so many people are
coming and going
during cases that
your OR doors are
more like turnstiles,
you could be risking
airborne contamina-
tion of the sterile
field, according to a
study in the journal
Orthopedics
(osmag.net/9PxYaR). The study says installing an alarm that
sounds whenever the OR doors are opened is a great way to
lighten traffic.
It's important to limit foot traffic into and out of ORs when sur-
geries are in progress because every time you open the OR door,
you alter airflow, which could lead to airborne contamination of
the sterile field, says Terri Link, MPH, BSN, CNOR, CIC, a periop-
erative patient safety specialist at the University of Colorado
Hospital in Aurora, Colo.
Ms. Link conducted research to determine which OR surfaces are
touched most often and therefore need to be cleaned with care. She
also discovered that an "alarming" number of people were in rooms
during short procedures — an average of 14 people were in outpa-
tient ORs during cases that lasted about 69 minutes.
The authors of the Orthopedics study installed an alarm that
sounded a 2-tone chime every time an OR door was opened and
To Lower Infection Risk, Keep the OR Doors Closed
• TRAFFIC CONTROL Harmful bacteria can blow into the sterile field each
time the OR door is opened. Eliminate unnecessary door openings in order to
reduce the risk of OR contamination
AIRBORNE CONTAMINATION
