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 podcast
Hands and gloves hold many of the critical keys to infection prevention, operating room (OR) efficiency and surgical best practices. Hear more from your peers about OR practices, gloving and other surgical glove-related topics in the podcast series Hands & gloves.
Listen to all episodesRelated articles
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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 | 4 min read Double gloving for complete protection
In discussion with surgeons and other operating room (OR) staff, such as surgical nurses, safety for their patients and for themselves is a key concern.
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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 | 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 | 1 min read The new generation of (NRL) surgical gloves
Surgical gloves and raw materials – time for reappraisal?
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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 Culture of operating room (OR) safety: Double gloving for effective hand protection
Improving surgical gloving practice
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Gloves | 2 min read Cochrane reviews on double gloving
The efficacy of double gloving in reducing the risk of an inner-glove perforation and increase the detection of perforations when they occur has been evaluated in two different Cochrane systematic reviews¹,².
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Gloves | 2 min read The dangers of powder in surgical gloves
The dangers of powder in surgical gloves have long been known and well-documented. Eliminating the use of glove powder can help eliminate several adverse health effects that may result from its use, such as postoperative adhesions, granulomas, wound contamination and delayed wound healing 1 2.
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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