What chloraprep does everyone use?

[mhy12784]

My hospital uses mostly betadine still, but we're trying to get everybody to use chloraprep.

Other than the regular sticks, does anyone use anything else chloraprep wise for general surgery preps?

I figured if we made it as simple as possible it would increase compliance and make the transition smoother.

It doesn't make sense to me how none of our chloraprep products include gloves which adds an extra step for the nurse

[WhoDatWhoDare, BSN, RN]

We use the various sizes depending on the patient and the location of the prep.... the large 26ml used for large preps such as abdomen, and smaller 10ml for neck preps... the untinted are used on new borns where risk of permanent "tatooing" could occur. Most people who prefer betadine over chloroprep like it because no alcohol to wait dry, so technically they can start draping sooner... many benefits of using chloroprep though. Have a rep come in service your team to increase buy in

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Pretty much what WDWD said. We use the orange tinted Chloraprep. Used to use the teal, but the ortho surgeons didn't like getting called about "cyanotic" legs...

The rep can be a great resource- they have boards to give you that show how much area a single stick will cover. Not only will it show you that you only need the 10.5mL size for a neck, but it's also about safety, not pooling, and the use of adequate dry time without having to wait forever. Truly, Chloraprep is lightyears ahead of betadine for prepping- betadine is inactivated in the presence of blood. Chloraprep has that quick action but also has a longer lasting effect.

None of our prepping options include gloves- that allows for the circulator or whoever's doing the prep to choose a type and size of glove that suits them best. (And those cheap vinyl gloves that used to come with our dry prep trays that we got rid of were so wrinkled and one size fits none that they were useless anyway)

[mhy12784]

Well we have the sticks as certain specialities use it. I was just wondering if there was any creative products out there for chloraprep not just sticks.

Maybe a chloraprep kit similar to the betadine kits. With gloves and blotting towels all included. Or anything else creative and innovative Google didn't give me the results I wanted

(was typing this the same time as the post above)

All of our betadine kits come with nice nitrile gloves that basically everybody can fit in

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Well we have the sticks as certain specialities use it. I was just wondering if there was any creative products out there for chloraprep not just sticks.

Maybe a chloraprep kit similar to the betadine kits. With gloves and blotting towels all included.

The stick IS the kit. It needs to be used in a particular manner to be effective:

30 second friction scrub at the incision site

Paint around as far as needed for draping

3 minute dry time to allow the vapors to dissipate for fire safety AND to allow the antimicrobial agents to do what they need to do

It should never be blotted, so towels should never be needed. Simply open the stick with the other sterile supplies, the person prepping puts on sterile gloves and the scrubbed person hands the stick to the person prepping.

[mhy12784]

The stick IS the kit. It needs to be used in a particular manner to be effective:

30 second friction scrub at the incision site

Paint around as far as needed for draping

3 minute dry time to allow the vapors to dissipate for fire safety AND to allow the antimicrobial agents to do what they need to do

It should never be blotted, so towels should never be needed. Simply open the stick with the other sterile supplies, the person prepping puts on sterile gloves and the scrubbed person hands the stick to the person prepping.

Well I didn't mean blotting towels even though I said it.

More like towels to shove under the sides of the patient to catch drippage so it doesn't pool under the patient and be an extreme fire hazard

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Well I didn't mean blotting towels even though I said it.

More like towels to shove under the sides of the patient to catch drippage so it doesn't pool under the patient and be an extreme fire hazard

You can use unsterile linen for that. We just use towels from the linen cart- they can be brought in at the same time we bring in the warm blankets when the patient comes in the room. Using an appropriate sized applicator for the amount of area to be prepped helps a lot as well. Might need to break the old thought that a sloppy prep is a better prep.

[offlabel]

I do wonder what genius thought blue chlorhexidine was a good idea...

[MereSanity]

The teal chloraprep is for people with darker skin tones. Easier to see after applied...not for fair complected people. You cannot see the orange on darker skin, you can however see the teal.