Guidelines in Practice: Environmental Cleaning

All perioperative personnel are responsible for providing a clean environment for patients undergoing operative or other invasive procedures. A contaminated environment can contribute to the incidence of surgical site infections when a patient’s skin contacts a contaminated surface or personnel touch a contaminated surface and then transmit microbes to the patient. Airborne contaminants may settle on the sterile field or in the surgical wound. The AORN “Guideline for environmental cleaning” provides guidance on cleaning product selection, cleaning procedures, personnel education, competency verification, and monitoring cleanliness through performance improvement processes. This article discusses guideline recommendations for cleaning procedures and cleaning of operating and procedure rooms. A scenario describes how an ambulatory surgery center team identifies gaps in cleaning processes and modifies the cleaning checklist to improve these processes. Perioperative RNs should review the entire guideline for additional information when creating and updating policies and procedures for environmental cleaning.