Introduction to Infection Control in Operating Theatres Resources

This document will briefly outline the stepwise process and rationale behind the flowsheets and other associated documents available for download from the website.

  1. Identify the infection control pathogen and required precautions – This process will depend on the identification methods utilised by your hospital. In our institution the various classes of infection control measures are as follows:
  2. Contact
  3. CRE (Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae)
  4. Airborne
  5. Skin
  6. Droplet
  1. Once you have identified the precaution(s) required, the staff will located the infection control trolley, bring it to the relevant operating theatre and refer to the appropriate flowsheet specific to the precaution type.

The flowsheets are kept on the trolley in order to “force” the staff to bring the trolley to the theatre, instead of having copies of all flowsheets in each theatre. This is advantageous for the following reasons:

  1. The presence of the trolley outside the theatre will alerts all stall to the fact that infection control procedures are in place.
  2. The trolley stores the flowsheets, signs and all the required personal protective equipment (PPE) required for all infection control types. This avoids having to go and find specific items such as plastic bags, gowns, masks etc.
  3. It reduces the risk of misplacing the trolley resources as there is only one trolley to be checked and restocked.
  1. The flowsheet will have specific details on the required theatre preparation, intraoperative management, recovery location and precautions, post-operative cleaning, waste disposal and linen management. Please refer to one of the flowsheets to review this process in detail. The flowsheet are simple yet comprehensive, and any new staff member should be able to read it and implement the infection control measures with minimal prior experience or education.
  1. The staff will be able to follow the flowsheet as they proceed through the various steps of the peri-operative process, reducing the transmission risk to other staff, patients and visitors.

Additional resources available for download include:

  • Door signs to warn staff of the required PPE that must be worn before entering the area (as described on the specific flowsheets) – These are only required for the more contagious infection types (Airborne, CRE, Droplet)
  • Quick reference cheat sheet, which we display in each operating theatre and floor coordination office in order to have an easy reference to the required procedures for each infection type.
  • An outline of the specific operating theatre cleaning plans – these guide the patient care assistants on how to clean the theatre once the patient has left. This reduces any unnecessary over-cleaning of the theatre and minimises delays between cases.
  • Recovery management plan – where and how to recover infection control patients

Overall, the process is clear and robust, and we have had overwhelmingly positive feedback post-implementation.

All the resources are in editable .docx files, and are available for download, modification and implementation in other institutions.