What cost ritual?
Following the 1991 Nuffield Theatre Nurses Award, I was encouraged to pursue further research into the scrub procedure. My interest had originally started when looking at the possibility of installing electronic eye taps into the theatres. I reasoned that by reducing the amounts of heated water flowing unused during the scrub procedure I would be able to justify the cost of these taps. A pilot survey I undertook showed that on costs alone this was not proven. A more logical and research based approach to the subject was required. My main objectives were to ascertain costs and timings of the traditional scrub; compare the costs with other acceptable alternatives; explore 'costs' relating to wider environmental concerns; examine the effectiveness of current practice. I looked at the Government statistics for England during 1990/91. It showed an annual total of 741,393 operating sessions with a total of 3,353,797 operations performed. The total of cases in orthopaedic, opthalmic, general and gynaecological operations totalled 2,301,272 cases. These four categories were the ones I chose to research.
Ross
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D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009871:Operating Room Nursing; D014881:Water Supply / Q000191:economics