arrives to open its case, the surgery can proceed. If the sign's not up,
the team knows that they have to wipe down surfaces before starting
the case.
Regularly clean the curtains that separate pre- and post-op bays and
wipe down the surfaces in those patient care areas. Also consider
using a mobile robot unit that bathes the bays in ultraviolet light to
further ensure all surfaces are disinfected.
• Wipe down electronics. Think about how many personal devices
and facility-issued screens circulate through your surgical department.
Now think about how many times they're cleaned.
One of our highly respected physicians noticed the number of elec-
tronic devices that are regularly in our ORs: cell phones, iPads, in-house
mobile phones and walkie-talkies used to communicate internally with
the pre- and post-op units. The surgeon suggested we disinfect the
devices daily, and we agreed.
We looked into using a tabletop ultraviolet light disinfecting unit,
but the physician's own research found that alcohol-based sanitiz-
ing wipes are just as effective. Now sanitizing wipes are located
throughout the facility, and a staff member is charged with disin-
fecting all of the devices each day. Members of the OR team and
other staff wipe down their personal phones before they enter the
ORs.
• Stay vigilant. Monitoring the cleaning practices is as important
as the practices themselves. Terminal cleaning is unheralded,
almost a behind-the-scenes activity, but is so very important. We
don't know that we would be on the contracted staff so hard had
we not had this uptick in infections. We do know that if we don't
consistently audit them, there will be inconsistencies in their prac-
tices.
Members of an outside cleaning service need to be just as educat-
6 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9
