No more disposable suit for parents in OR
Starting September 1, the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital will no longer require parents to wear disposable blue suits in the OR, giving children more comfort and saving thousands of kilos of waste each year.
A small change with big impact. At the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital (WKZ), as of September 1, parents no longer wear disposable coveralls – the blue suit – hat or slippers to the surgical site. This gives children more confidence when parents take them away for surgery. But also: it saves thousands of pounds of waste each year. “The most important thing is the child’s well-being. A recognizable parent gives peace and confidence,” says Judith Schonagen, OR manager at the WKZ.
This makes the WKZ the first children’s hospital to do so. Judith Schonagen, manager in the operating rooms (OR) took the initiative. “It originated from the perspective of comfort for the anxious child and the accompanying parent. Sometimes a child comes into the operating room and a ‘blue-suit trauma’ occurs. The parent is unrecognizable in protective gear; this can be confusing and frightening. We have experienced many times when an operation had to be postponed because the child became so upset that anesthesia was not possible. That’s distressing and it got me thinking.”
Air quality in the OR remains in order
Judith and Cédric Koolschijn (circular care project leader) got to work with the infection prevention department on the idea. After all, is not wearing protective clothing safe? Judith: “We did risk analyses and extra measurements in the operating rooms. Of course, we wanted to make sure that the air quality would remain good even if parents were wearing their own clothes and the nurse and/or teaching assistant were wearing their duty clothes. The air treatment in the OR ensures that the room is clean again quickly after possible contamination, for example by dust particles from clothing. This is done through special air diffusers that distribute the air well and remove contamination. An important test here is the so-called recovery time: how quickly the air in the operating room is clean again after a disturbance. Measurements by an independent specialized company, showed that the air quality in the OR inside is restored quickly. And well faster than the time required between the parent’s departure and the start of surgery when the room must be completely sterile.”
Many benefits: child well-being and less waste and CO₂ emissions
It’s a small adjustment with big impact – for the child, the care and the planet. “The most important thing is the child’s well-being. A recognizable parent gives peace and confidence. In addition, the new method saves time for caregivers, lowers the risk of falls due to the slipperiness of the slippers attached to the suit, and is better for the environment. Over 2,500 pounds of disposable clothing were used annually, which were burned as residual waste after being worn once. By eliminating this step, we avoid unnecessary waste and carbon emissions.We hope to inspire other hospitals with this as well.”