Editor's Note Johns Hopkins University engineering students have designed an Ebola protection suit with a more comfortable hood and face mask that makes breathing easier, and it has a battery-powered system that lowers humidity in the suit. The University and DuPont have signed license and collaboration agreements allowing DuPont to…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 21 announced a proposal to ban most powdered gloves in the US. The proposed ban applies to powdered surgeons' gloves, powdered patient examination gloves, and absorbable powder for lubricating surgeons' gloves. Powdered gloves pose an unreasonable and substantial risk of…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft guidance to describe its premarket regulatory requirements and performance testing needed to support liquid barrier claims for gowns used in health care settings. In the past, a number of terms have been used to refer to gowns intended for…
Protective eyewear is supposed to prevent infectious materials from reaching the eyes of OR staff, but recent research has revealed a link between reusable protective eyewear and an increased risk of cross contamination and infection. “We found that the protective eyewear itself can be a causal factor in ongoing contamination,”…
Two OR nurses are part of a diverse team that cares for Ebola patients at the Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit in Omaha, and the team’s nursing director is Shelly Schwedhelm, MSN, RN, a former OR Manager of the Year. “I chose OR nurses to be on the team because…