Interactions between anesthesiologists and the environment while providing anesthesia care in the operating room

Abstract

We describe 1,132 contacts between anesthesiologists and the operating room. Objects most commonly touched included anesthesia machines and keyboards. Only 13 hand hygiene events were witnessed during 8 hours of observations. Line insertions, bronchoscopies, or blood exposures were not followed by hand hygiene. Stopcocks were accessed 66 times and only disinfected on 10 (15%) of these occasions. Copyright © 2013 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.