vention practices would be if we did even more."
Much, much better, apparently. So far this year, the surgical team
has performed about 40 colon surgeries without a single infection.
8 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8
Karen Acosta, MSN, RN, CNOR,
decided to get creative when
accreditation surveyors told her
she had to develop a system for
alerting staff that equipment
and surfaces in pre- and post-
op bays had been cleaned
between patient use. The direc-
tor of surgical services at
Houston (Texas) Physicians'
Hospital hung signs containing
collages of inspirational nursing
phrases on vital signs monitors in each bay. When staff move
patients into the bays, they flip the signs over to the back of the
monitors. After patients leave the bays and the surfaces and
equipment have been cleaned, staff return the signs to the front
of the monitors to indicate the areas are ready for the next
patient.
Ms. Acosta punched holes in the top of the laminated signs and
attached them to the handles of the vital signs monitors with zip
ties or loose-leaf binder rings because she knew that's where
they'd be impossible to miss. She included inspirational mes-
sages instead of simply noting "clean" on the signs because she
wanted to create a cue that was engaging and visually appealing
for staff and patients. — Daniel Cook
Signs Signify Clean Patient Bays
• WIPED AND READY Leah Mock, RN, a PACU nurse at
Houston (Texas) Physicians' Hospital, knows this bay is
available for the next patient.
Houston
Physicians'
Hospital
