Experts are putting a renewed focus on the operating room's role in infection prevention, calling for a greater degree of evaluation of the cleaning and disinfection, according to an article on the Infection Control Today website.

Recent studies have revealed gaps in OR hygiene. For example, a 2011 study evaluated 71 operating rooms in six acute-care hospitals and found an average daily cleaning rate of 25 percent of the objects monitored. 

A 2008 study evaluated 61 operative suites and found that potentially pathogenic, multidrug-resistant bacterial organisms are transmitted during the practice of general anesthesia to both the anesthesia work area and intravenous stopcock sets, the article said.

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) recent Recommended Practices suggested that "perioperative and environmental services personnel must receive education and complete competency verification activities that address specialized knowledge and skills related to the principles and processes of environmental cleaning." 

Read the article.