Wearing Overshoes in Operating theatres

[Anonymous]

Dear All

I have been asked to advise on the issue of overshoes of who and when they should be worn in Perioperative settings.
We encourage all permanent staff to have their own theatre shoes and wear for convenience and safety. We ask that shoes should be cleaned regularly and if soiled or overshoes worn if spills occur.
We currently ask visitors, parents etc to wear overshoes into theatre. We also have identified overshoes can be a WHS (slip) issue as well with some shoes.
Just wondering if anyone could share how they manage the wearing of overshoes and who and when they should be worn. Is this the current recommended practise?
I believe that our practise is current with ACORN guidelines.
Happy to chat offline if anyone can add to the conversation.

Kind regards

Phillipa Parsons
Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Coordinator, Cabrini Malvern
0400 369 741
It takes just 5 Moments to change the world

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[Lincoln Fowler]

Hi Phillipa
The use of overshoes would seem to be a cultural activity without a well thought out reason for being embraced.
The over shoe is subject to a lot of friction forces during use so it is hardly likely to be impervious for very long allowing whatever resides on the shoe of the wearer to escape to the floor. Once on the floor it probably will stay there as generally things that fall to the floor stay there unless deliberately lifted up. As I don’t see a mechanism for doing this I would resist the temptation to apply an overshoe. It does increase the chance of slipping for the wearer and that is the greater risk as far as I can ascertain.
If something is dirty it shouldn’t be allowed into the operating theatre without being cleaned first; shoes included.
An exception might be the trauma patient needing urgent surgery!
I hope this helps the discussion.
Cheers

Lincoln Fowler
Infection Prevention Nurse Consultant

Bairnsdale Regional Health Service
http://www.brhs.com.au

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Dear All

I have been asked to advise on the issue of overshoes of who and when they should be worn in Perioperative settings.
We encourage all permanent staff to have their own theatre shoes and wear for convenience and safety. We ask that shoes should be cleaned regularly and if soiled or overshoes worn if spills occur.
We currently ask visitors, parents etc to wear overshoes into theatre. We also have identified overshoes can be a WHS (slip) issue as well with some shoes.
Just wondering if anyone could share how they manage the wearing of overshoes and who and when they should be worn. Is this the current recommended practise?
I believe that our practise is current with ACORN guidelines.
Happy to chat offline if anyone can add to the conversation.

Kind regards

Phillipa Parsons
Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Coordinator, Cabrini Malvern
0400 369 741
It takes just 5 Moments to change the world

———————————————————————————————————————-

Please consider the environment before you print this e-mail.

This email and any attachments may be confidential, and are intended solely for the use of
the individual(s) or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient
of this communication, please notify the sender immediately and delete the email and any
attachments. Cabrini does not guarantee that this email is virus or error free.

This email has been scanned by the Cabrini Email Security service.

———————————————————————————————————————-
MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to aicalist@aicalist.org.au

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MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to aicalist@aicalist.org.au

To send a message to the list administrator send an email to aicalist-request@aicalist.org.au.

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