Ideas That Work: Shine a Light on Dirty ORs

SPOT CHECK A fluorescent light reveals areas in the OR that your cleaning crew missed.

Shine a Light on Dirty ORs

We use a fluorescent light (osmag.net/RuPE2t) to conduct weekly checks of how clean our OR surfaces are. Shining the light on surfaces in darkened rooms reveals stains and residue that staff have missed. We perform the inspections at the beginning of the day, before a room has been entered, to assess the terminal cleaning done the night before. By recording what we see in each area of the room on an audit tool (download it at outpatientsurgery.net/forms), on which we note scores that range from 0 (no detection) to 5 (excessive detection), we're able to track which areas need more attention and note what actions we need to take to make sure staff focus on spots they missed.

Nikki Williams, RN, CNOR
Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center
[email protected]