Reducing Intraoperative Infection Transmission in the Pediatric Operating Room

Patients becoming infected during hospitalization occurs frequently and causes harm. It is important for healthcare facilities to take action to prevent these infections and their spread between patients. Despite the presumption of a "sterile" environment, one place where spread of infection is known to happen is in the operating room. This occurs as a result of frequent interaction among healthcare providers, the patient and the environment of the room. Hand washing is an important component of preventing the spread of infections. Scientific evidence has shown that making it easier for people to wash their hands can have two important impacts: (1) reduction of environmental bacterial contamination and (2) reduction in spread of bacterial pathogens. OR PathTrac is new technology that allows tracking of bacterial spread. While data exists about bacterial contamination and transmission in the adult operating room, there is very minimal data about this in the pediatric operating room. Primary aim: To use OR PathTrac to evaluate the effect of a personal hand washing device in reducing operating room exposure to bacterial pathogens in pediatric patients. We hypothesize that this hand washing system will decrease exposure to pathologic bacteria in the pediatric operating room. Secondary aim: To gain knowledge about baseline bacterial contamination and transmission in pediatric operating rooms. We will answer this question by comparing bacterial cultures taken from operating rooms whose personnel are trained to use the hand washing device to operating rooms who are not trained to use the device.