Questions regarding preoperative hair removal.

[ncarnurse]

Hi,

I am doing a paper for school regarding a change in practice from shaving to clipping the operative site. I do need to include:

Who sets up the guidelines for the shaving/clipping (who makes the guidelines).

The rationale of why and why the practice is performed this way.

TIA. I understand the rationale for clipping is to decrease infection but need to know the rationale for shaving it and who sets up the old guidelines.

[suckulator]

The hair is clipped preoperatively as close to the time of surgery as possible as the skin can have microscopic abrasions and nicks that can breed bacteria. We clip hair to keep it out of the field/wound and out of the surgeons way. Also, some of the prepping solutions contain alcohol and must be completely dry before draping to avoid fumes being trapped and causing a fire. If the alcohol comes in contact with the hair you have to wait up to an hour for it to dry! Usual dry time is three minutes. You do not shave anymore because it causes to much trauma to the skin. AORN sets these guidelines by evidence based practice and each facility makes the policies regarding the hair clipping. We use just a standard battery operated wet dry clipper that you can buy at Walmart. Check out AORN recommendations regarding clipping and the SCIP initiatives as well. Hope this helps!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Get to know your AORN website any time you have any questions or assignments regarding any aspect of perioperative care (preop, OR, and PACU). They are a wealth of information.