TY - JOUR
T1 - Decreasing operating room environmental pathogen contamination through improved cleaning practice
AU - Silvia Munoz-Price, L.
AU - Birnbach, David J.
AU - Lubarsky, David A.
AU - Arheart, Kristopher L.
AU - Fajardo-Aquino, Yovanit
AU - Rosalsky, Mara
AU - Cleary, Timothy
AU - DePascale, Dennise
AU - Coro, Gabriel
AU - Namias, Nicholas
AU - Carling, Philip
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - Objective: Potential transmission of organis from the environment to patients is a concern, especially in enclosed settings, such as operating roo, in which there are multiple and frequent contacts between patients, provider's hands, and environmental surfaces. Therefore, adequate disinfection of operating roo is essential. We aimed to determine the change in both the thoroughness of environmental cleaning and the proportion of environmental surfaces within operating roo from which pathogenic organis were recovered. Design: Prospective environmental study using feedback with UV markers and environmental cultures. Setting: A 1,500-bed county teaching hospital. Participants: Environmental service personnel, hospital administration, and medical and nursing leadership Results: The proportion of UV markers removed (cleaned) increased from 0.47 (284 of 600 markers; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42-0.53) at baseline to 0.82 (634 of 777 markers; 95% CI, 0.77-0.85) during the last month of observations (P= .0001). Nevertheless, the percentage of samples from which pathogenic organis (gram-negative bacilli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus species) were recovered did not change throughout our study. Pathogens were identified on 16.6% of surfaces at baseline and 12.5% of surfaces during the follow-up period (P= .998). However, the percentage of surfaces from which gram-negative bacilli were recovered decreased from 10.7% at baseline to 2.3% during the follow-up period (P=.015). Conclusions: Feedback using Gram staining of environmental cultures and UV markers was successful at improving the degree of cleaning in our operating roo.
AB - Objective: Potential transmission of organis from the environment to patients is a concern, especially in enclosed settings, such as operating roo, in which there are multiple and frequent contacts between patients, provider's hands, and environmental surfaces. Therefore, adequate disinfection of operating roo is essential. We aimed to determine the change in both the thoroughness of environmental cleaning and the proportion of environmental surfaces within operating roo from which pathogenic organis were recovered. Design: Prospective environmental study using feedback with UV markers and environmental cultures. Setting: A 1,500-bed county teaching hospital. Participants: Environmental service personnel, hospital administration, and medical and nursing leadership Results: The proportion of UV markers removed (cleaned) increased from 0.47 (284 of 600 markers; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42-0.53) at baseline to 0.82 (634 of 777 markers; 95% CI, 0.77-0.85) during the last month of observations (P= .0001). Nevertheless, the percentage of samples from which pathogenic organis (gram-negative bacilli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus species) were recovered did not change throughout our study. Pathogens were identified on 16.6% of surfaces at baseline and 12.5% of surfaces during the follow-up period (P= .998). However, the percentage of surfaces from which gram-negative bacilli were recovered decreased from 10.7% at baseline to 2.3% during the follow-up period (P=.015). Conclusions: Feedback using Gram staining of environmental cultures and UV markers was successful at improving the degree of cleaning in our operating roo.
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U2 - 10.1086/667381
DO - 10.1086/667381
M3 - Article
C2 - 22869263
AN - SCOPUS:84864911551
VL - 33
SP - 897
EP - 904
JO - Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
JF - Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
SN - 0899-823X
IS - 9
ER -