A
re your high-touch surfaces clean? I mean thoroughly
disinfected? Even though we assume that our ORs will
be sterile, surfaces are rarely cleaned, especially
between cases. The likely culprits are turnover pres-
sures and inadequately trained environmental services
staff. Is your team making these 13 common surface cleaning mis-
takes?
Not leaving surfaces as wet as they should be for as long as they should be.
Most disinfectants used to have 10-minute kill times — and real-
ly, nobody could afford that kind of time unless they were doing ter-
minal cleaning. Now, most products have 2- or 3-minute kill times.
Everyone feels the pressure to turn rooms over quickly, but 2 or 3
minutes shouldn't be that big of a deal.
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
Are You Making These
Surface-Cleaning Mistakes?
z ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH High-touch items
should be wiped down several times a day,
and make sure adequate kill time is provided.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
Here are 13 areas your turnover team may be glossing over.
Amy Hughes, BSN, CIC | Media, Pa.
