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Back to Basics: Environmental Cleaning Hazards
Author(s) -
Spruce Lisa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aorn journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1878-0369
pISSN - 0001-2092
DOI - 10.1016/j.aorn.2017.08.013
Subject(s) - perioperative , skin irritation , medicine , perioperative nursing , health risk , surgical team , biological hazard , medical emergency , intensive care medicine , environmental health , surgery , dermatology
Perioperative personnel must clean and disinfect the perioperative environment numerous times throughout the day to help prevent the risk of exposing patients to pathogenic microorganisms. However, this practice exposes perioperative team members to chemicals that could be harmful to their health. Exposure to cleaning and disinfecting products has been associated with potential health problems such as skin irritation, burns, rashes, and difficulty breathing. This Back to Basics article offers strategies for perioperative team members to implement to decrease their risk of harmful exposure to these products.