<p> The practice of routine pre-operative conjunctival swabbing for patterns about to undergo intra-ocular surgery seemed a waste of human and financial resources to nurses working in the ophthalmic unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Staff nurses Ann McCullough and Dawn Stewart decided to investigate, and discovered that the procedure was neither cost-effective nor clinically justifiable. This article describes their study and the effect it has had on policy at the Royal Victoria Hospital./ </p>