Balancing practice and theory in the OR
Swedish OR nurses’ preventive interventions to reduce bacterial growth and SSIs, and to increase comfort in patients undergoing surgery
What better way to tackle OR challenges than to solve the problems observed in practice yourself? Combining the theory and practical observations, one clinician studied and shares her findings about preventive interventions in the OR.
In this podcast
OR nurse Camilla Wistrand introduces four studies she conducted around preventive interventions in the OR.
Practice to theory and back again
Issues in everyday OR practice piqued questions and hypotheses that led to theory and research studies aimed to improve practice.
Reducing SSI risk and increasing patient comfort
From the use of preheated skin disinfection to bacterial moisture growth under sets of double gloves in surgery, the research finds that:
- Patient comfort can be increased
- Simple measures can be taken to reduce the risk of cross contamination for patients
Double gloving as standard Camilla’s survey study found that 73% of nurses polled always use double gloves. Double gloving offers protection for yourself and even more so protection for patients, who are not awake during procedures and entrust OR staff to take care of them.
Hands & gloves
Hands and gloves hold many of the critical keys to infection prevention, OR efficiency and surgical best practices. Hear more from your peers about OR practice, gloving and other surgical-glove-related topics in the podcast series, Hands & gloves.
Listen to all episodesRelated articles
Read all-
Gloves | 2 min read Culture of OR safety: Double gloving for effective hand protection
Improving surgical gloving practice
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Gloves | 1 min read The new generation of (NRL) surgical gloves
Surgical gloves and raw materials – time for re-appraisal?
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Gloves | 1 min read OR sustainability: A holistic system understanding
How do surgical gloves affect sustainability and the global environment?
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Gloves | 1 min read Creating a Consensus document for surgical gloving best practice – Part 1
The first part discusses the need to create a Consensus document with recommendations for surgical gloving best practice.
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Gloves | 1 min read Creating a Consensus document for surgical gloving best practice - Part 2
Part two discusses the role of a Consensus work to overcome the challenges of implementing change.
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Gloves | 2 min read The role of chemicals in medical gloves
Challenges and opportunities with chemicals in surgical gloves - meeting customer expectations
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Gloves | 2 min read Protocol to practice: Single to double gloving
How to implement a double gloving protocol in practice
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Gloves | 2 min read Strategies for active OR quality improvement
Using improvement science to drive change in the operating room
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Gloves | 2 min read Double gloving with puncture indication for extra safety
The key to maximum safety is making sure that punctures in surgical gloves can be detected as rapidly as possible.
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References
- Wistrand Camilla. Swedish operating room nurses’ preventive interventions to reduce bacterial growth and surgical site infections, and to increase comfort in patients undergoing surgery 2017. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1136191/FULLTEXT01.pdf
- Wistrand et al. Exploring bacterial growth and recolonization after preoperative hand disinfection and surgery between operating room nurses and non-health care workers: a pilot study. BMC Infectious Diseases 2018;18:466 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-018-3375-3