doing? Were they staying busy?
"Look at how the room is set up and how it is cleaned," says Ms.
Soloski. "Are your nurses opening their trays and counting everything
before the patient is wheeled in or is there a time where they could
wheel the patient in and still be setting up their table?"
There are some instances where the scrub tech can continue to set
up the table and complete the count after the patient is wheeled into
the room. This eliminates some of anesthesia's waiting time because
they can get the patient positioned and under anesthesia while the
final setup and count is taking place.
3. Hold your horses
Does your turnover team empty the trash or remove dirty linens while
patients are still in the OR? Not only is this practice distracting to the
providers caring for the patient, but it's also the perfect setting for cross-
contamination.
"I've seen nurses gathering dirty instruments in carts to take to cen-
tral sterile while the anesthesia tech is setting up for the next patient in
the still-dirty room," says Libby Chinnes, RN, BSN, CIC, FAPIC, presi-
dent of IC Solutions in Mount Pleasant, S.C. "Even if surgeons are pres-
suring your turnover team to work quickly, they shouldn't enter the
room until the patient is wheeled out of the OR."
Your policy should state that environmental cleaning should occur
after each patient, but not until the patient has left the area — whether
it be the OR, procedure room, pre-op or PACU — per the 2018 edition
of AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, says Ms. Chinnes.
4. Help housekeeping get a start
Yes, don't start until cleaning until the patient leaves the room, but
you can start cleaning up before housekeeping gets there. At
4 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 9
