• Create accountability. Survey your OR staffers about their gar-
ment cleaning practices. We found significant knowledge deficits.
Some staffers cleaned the items between every case, others with vary-
ing frequency and about a quarter had never done it. The biggest bar-
riers to compliance were short turnover times, staffing levels, avail-
ability of flat surfaces to lay the garments on to clean and It's not my
job! mentalities. Bottom line: There was no accountability for cleaning
the garments.
That problem was solved through staff education. We gathered our
team during in-services to report our findings, and then educated them
on proper cleaning practices with hands-on demonstrations.
• Improve compliance. Thoroughly clean each garment with perox-
ide wipes — front, back and along all side seams — between every
use. Be sure to follow the dry time recommended by the wipe's manu-
facturer.
You need a large flat surface to clean the garments, so your staff
must find a table that isn't being used to get the job done.
By checking for the presence of the secret fluorescent markers and
logging how many remain, you can monitor monthly cleaning compli-
ance.
All our garments contain numbered tags that help us track individ-
ual items. We wipe each one down once a month by default, so we
know they're being cleaned even if daily compliance lags. When a gar-
ment is confirmed clean, we affix a big green "Clean" label onto it.
• Ensure proper storage. We noticed staff typically flung garments
over storage racks instead of hanging them neatly. Folding these gar-
ments can result in breaches of integrity over time, increasing the risk
of radiation exposure. If you're faced with the same issue, use your
cellphone to snap a few pics of improperly stored garments and show
them at your next staff meeting. The message will be obvious: Take
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