says Ms. De Vito.
Patient team out, turnover team in
By itself, a 3-minute turnover is relatively easy to do. It's the rest of the
system that will slow the OR schedule, says Ms. De Vito, like a central
sterile tech being late with the case cart or a nurse being delayed with
4 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8
Patricia Stockwell,
RN, of Dartmouth-
Hitchcock in Lebanon,
N.H., shares simple
ways circulators can
help make room
turnover go smoother.
• Keep the room
tidy throughout the case and pick up off the floor suture wrap-
pers, instrument indicators or top protectors that the cleaning
team has to chase around during dry mopping.
• Keep the empty instrument pan cases together and near
where the scrub will break down his table.
• Place the trash container near the end of the bed after your
counts are final.
• Collect all sterile items that were not used on a ring stand so
you can easily roll them back to the sterile core.
• Empty and change used suction containers when they're no
longer needed.
• Know what equipment will stay in the room and what needs to
leave, and share this info with your cleaning team.
Give Your Turnover Team a Head Start
• TEAMWORK Circulators can pave the way for fast room turnovers.
ALL-FOR-ONE
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
