Study Establishes Criteria to Choose the Right Disinfectant Wipes

In an interview with Infection Control Today^®, Maria Montero, an infection preventionist at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, discussed her research on selecting the right disinfection wipes for health care facilities.

The Northwestern Medicine health care system, which employs Montero, is comprised of 11 hospitals and more than 300 ambulatory sites with various practice settings throughout the Chicago area. As lead author of the study Standardizing Disinfectant Wipes Across a Hospital System, Montero noted that the various disinfection wipes in use across Northwestern Medicine created confusion among staff and concluded that standardization across all locations was optimal.

Criteria used to whittle down the choices of wipes included highest kill claims, one-step disinfection, short dwell time, compatibility with common medical equipment, ease of use, and level of safety for patients and staff. A total of 14 different types of disinfectant wipes were compared to determine the final selection. 

“The importance [of the study] was to make sure that clinical staff were using cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and medical equipment appropriately, correctly following the correct contact times using the appropriate disinfectant wipes,” Montero said in the interview.