Reducing Anesthesia Workstation Contamination

In the intraoperative setting, the intersection of hand hygiene practices and contamination of the anesthesia workstation presents a critical juncture for reducing hospital acquired infections that ultimately lead to increased patient morbidity and mortality. Microbiological contamination of the anesthesia workstation, most notably during routine tasks such as induction and airway management, has been directly linked to an increase in patient morbidity and mortality. The absence of standardized protocols to minimize contamination of the anesthesia workstation signals a crucial opportunity to improve the anesthetic workflow. This Doctor of Nursing project focused on educating student registered nurse anesthetists about intraoperative hand hygiene and ways to counter the contamination of their workstation, such as double gloving during induction and airway management. A pre-test survey was created to assess baseline knowledge of the topic and current hand hygiene practice during airway management. An evidence-based PowerPoint presentation was provided as an educational intervention, followed by a post-test survey to assess retention of knowledge and willingness to apply suggested methods to reduce contamination. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in the students’ awareness, confidence, and willingness to apply the recommendations to reduce contamination of the anesthesia workstation. This project underscores the importance of targeted educational interventions in elevating healthcare quality through an improved anesthetic workflow that includes better hand hygiene and workstation cleanliness.

Creator

• Moncada, Kristine G.

Language

• English

Keyword

• intraoperative hand hygiene practices
• anesthesia workstation contamination
• microbiological contamination
• induction and airway management
• standardized protocols
• anesthetic workflow
• educational interventions

Date created

• 2024

Resource type

• Research Paper

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/