How to Make a Schedule to Clean an Operating Room

Clean operating rooms are imperative in performing surgical procedures safely.

The cleanliness of an operating room is imperative so that patients, doctors, nurses and other medical staff feel secure that nothing will interfere with the success of the surgeries performed in them. Because patients may be vulnerable to a variety of infections that could be present in an operating room, cleanliness is extremely important. Operating rooms should cleaned using strict guidelines with a schedule that is followed closely.

Instructions

1. Make a detailed operating time chart. Include all of the procedures scheduled for the operating room, adding an extra hour to each time period. Some procedures may take longer than anticipated, so it is important to allow enough flexibility.

2. Create a separate planning chart to list cleaning times for the operating room. Use a program such as Excel, a word processing page or hand-write it on a large piece of paper. Put the operating room number at the top of the page. Make a column for the start time on the far left side. Make columns following that for the operation number, description, finish time and notes.

3. Use the operating time chart as a guide for for the cleaning schedule. Make a duplicate of the operating time chart guide, leaving plenty of lines between each procedure listed.

4. Write "Op Room Cleaning" under the first procedure listed on the cleaning schedule. Write "Cleaning method," next to that, leaving enough space to list each type of cleaning along with the name of the person responsible. For example, "Suction clean" followed by a person's name. Continue below that with a line for each cleaning task for each specific area, such as "Damp mop floor," "Damp wipe ledges," "Spray clean work trays" and "Machine scrub floor." The more detailed the chart is, the more useful it will be in maintaining the safety of the operating room.

5. Schedule the first cleaning time on the chart for early morning. Schedule the first cleaning at least an hour prior to the first scheduled procedure.

6. Include a section for cleaning and maintaining equipment. List the name of a supervisor who will maintain the schedule and who can be notified of any discrepancies or issues regarding the cleaning schedule.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a checklist for hospital staff to use for immediately discarding disposable items such as paper sheeting, gowns, gloves and other surgical supplies. This will be helpful in maintaining the cleaning schedule, while also serving as a dual checklist cleaning system.

• Ensure that even when the room is cleaned after the last operation, cleaning time is scheduled at the start of the next day. This will help to ensure that anything missed prior is found and corrected before the next procedure.

• Be sure that personnel know their roles and responsibilities regarding the cleaning schedule, as well as whom to contact if issues arise.

References

• Environmental Cleaning Schedule
• The Environmental Essentials to OR Cleaning

Resources

• Operating Room Schedule