AORN Journal
Volume 83, Issue 3 , Pages 607-626, March 2006

Microbial Flora on Operating Room Telephones

  • Jason Nelson, RN

      Affiliations

    • Jason A. Nelson, RN, BSN, CNOR, CPT, AN, USA, is an OR nurse, currently serving in Mosul, Iraq.
    • ,
  • Ava Bivens, RN

      Affiliations

    • Ava M. Bivens, RN, BSN, CNOR, MAJ, AN, USA, is a perioperative clinical nurse specialist and performance improvement facilitator at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC.
    • ,
  • Antoinette Shinn, RN

      Affiliations

    • Antoinette M. Shinn, RN, BSN, MHA, CNOR, Maj, USAF, NC, is a perioperative clinical nurse specialist at the Keesler Medical Center, Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss.
    • ,
  • Linda Wanzer, RN

      Affiliations

    • Linda J. Wanzer, RN, MSN, CNOR, COL, AN, USA, is a perioperative clinical nurse specialist and director in the Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md.
    • ,
  • Christine Kasper, RN

      Affiliations

    • Christine E. Kasper, RN, BSN, MSC, PhD, is a professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md, and is on the faculty of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Nursing Services.

ABSTRACT 

•APPROXIMATELY 500,000 surgical site infections (SSIs) occur each year in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine if the bacteria most frequently involved in SSIs could be found on telephones in the OR.

•TWENTY-SIX CULTURES were taken from telephones in 14 ORs and two substerile rooms at a large teaching medical center.

•USING STANDARD LABORATORY procedures, the researchers identified coagulase-negative staphylococci in the cultures. The study found that telephones in the OR can serve as reservoirs for SSI-causing bacteria. AORN J 83 (March 2006) 607–626.

 

 The authors thank the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md, for the grant provided for this research. They also thank Sandra C. Garmon Bibb, RN, DNSc, associate professor, Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md, for her guidance, and microbiologists Jody Bruton, LT, USN, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Hancock County, Miss, and Kelly McIlwain, PhD, LT, USN, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md, for their service on the research committee and assistance with bacterial identification and manuscript review.

 Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the United States Government.

PII: S0001-2092(06)60190-7

doi:10.1016/S0001-2092(06)60190-7

AORN Journal
Volume 83, Issue 3 , Pages 607-626, March 2006

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