Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Not the Retiring Type - January 2015 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/445049

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 123 of 148

1 2 4 O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | JaNuaRy 2015 Whole-Room Disinfection Systems Would your cleaning practices benefit from automated assistance? D isinfecting surgical suites is hardly foolproof. We clean the rooms with traditional cleaning methods, but there are always surfaces that we overlook, as well as nooks and crannies that are hard to reach. That's why whole-room disinfection systems have a practical appeal. The science behind these systems includes ultraviolet light, aerosolized or vaporized hydrogen peroxide, cluster ions and ozone gas, and the number of available products is on the rise. There's sub- stantial evidence that these no-touch disinfection units can effectively decrease microbial growth in an environment, but the clinical litera- ture hasn't yet definitively determined how much of an impact that might have on a facility's surgical site infection rates. On the other hand, they can be seen as a valuable adjunct to manual cleaning in ambulatory surgical facilities. Given the expansion of the outpatient case mix, these automated systems provide an extra meas- ure of protection. Since outpatient surgical suites aren't running 24-7, the systems are ideal additions to terminal cleaning practices at the end of the day's schedule. If you're considering implementing whole-room disinfection at your facility, keep in mind that each method has its own advantages and dif- ferences in how it operates as well as in its effectiveness against spe- cific pathogens. For example, ultraviolet light devices are easy to use and target a wide range of microorganisms. One potential drawback of UV light disinfection is that, as with any light, the equipment and furni- ture and other things in a room might cast shadows on other surfaces, preventing the light from disinfecting them. That's why a number of UV systems have to be repositioned in mid-process to complete the job. Hydrogen peroxide, on the other hand, is dispersed as a vapor or T H I N K I N G O F B U Y I N G . . . Linda R. Greene, RN, MPS, CIC

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Not the Retiring Type - January 2015 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine