4 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 2 0
T
he short-
and long-
term
impact of
COVID-19
will surely include a
radical change in how
surface disinfection is
practiced and
enforced. "All of my
surgical facilities are
asking the same thing:
'When are we going to
get back to normal?'"
says Donna Nucci, RN,
MS, CIC, infection preventionist at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital
and owner of her own consulting business.
She tells them the same thing: Surgery will eventually return to a
new normal, one with an increased focus on how well and how often
you clean high-touch areas in operating rooms and common areas.
Case volumes will eventually ramp up and when they do some
experts predict a boom in elective surgeries. That means it might be
best to use this temporary lull in the action to revisit surface cleaning
protocols and plan for improvement in a post-COVID-19 world.
"The science is most likely not going to change, but implementation
Ready for the New Normal
in Surface Disinfection?
Revisit your protocols before a return
to the pace of pre-pandemic surgery.
• RAPID RESPONSE Turnover teams need to find a balance between moving
quickly and making sure all surface areas are properly cleaned.
John Berry | Editorial Assistant