Take these skin-prep steps before procedures
Becton Dickinson and Good Samaritan Hospital recently conducted a joint skin-prep audit with our Infection Prevention teams in our OR. Coupled with recent mock survey findings, the discoveries from this audit helped us identify more best practices to follow when conducting skin prep before procedures.
Skin-prep audit: 4 best practices to follow
Per AORN guidelines and Intermountain policy, use wet clipping or a vacuum device when removing hair in the OR. Additionally, the expectation is to remove hair outside the OR whenever possible.
Allow nursing to take the task of skin antisepsis. Per AORN guidelines and Intermountain policy, sterile technique is needed to perform skin antisepsis by someone who has received specialized training. Our nurses receive this training.
Per CDC, AORN and Intermountain policy, use an antiseptic agent containing alcohol. Intermountain prefers ChloraPrep.
For prep, make sure to use the correct applicator according to its instructions for use, such as using the 10 mL on head-and-neck procedures instead of using the 26 mL.
Thank you for following Good Samaritan policy and for taking these steps to ensure our patients receive the safest-possible care in our OR.