Operating Room
The Infection Control Today® operating room page provides news articles and videos on the intersection between surgery and infection prevention. The operating room is a prime breeding ground for harmful pathogens to spread, resulting in surgical site infections. The role of the infection preventionist, together with the perioperative nursing staff, is to craft policies and processes to cut down on these infections and ensure patient safety during surgical procedures.
Latest News
April 8th 2025
Communication breakdowns between the operating room and central processing led to delays and frustration—until collaboration, cross-training, and shared goals turned metrics around and strengthened teamwork.
More News
Forced-Air Warming: An Effective Tool in Fighting SSI
March 16th 2011Infection prevention and control departments have responsibility and oversight for implementing and monitoring strategies that help reduce infection risk throughout healthcare facilities. Infection preventionists are often asked to weigh in on strategies that are unfamiliar to them. In the perioperative setting, a proven and effective approach in helping fight surgical site infections is maintaining normothermia.
Going 'Green' in the Operating Room
February 22nd 2011Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified practical strategies to implement environmentally friendly practices in operating rooms and other hospital facilities that could result in vastly reduced healthcare costs and pose no risk to patient safety.
Addressing Fast Turnovers of Surgical Instrumentation
January 24th 2011Turning surgical instrumentation over quickly for the operating room (OR) has always been, and may remain, a constant hot topic. It is a critical issue for several reasons. Flashing is not a viable option for non-emergencies. Capital funds for inventory are not as robust as in years past. Sterile processing departments are often not located within or adjacent to many OR suites at most facilities. Surgical instrumentation and other medical devices are more complex and require unique and extensive processing more then ever. Furthermore, organisms are just as complex as the instruments we are trying to process, so, room for error is much less.
