O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 1
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eath, taxes and surgeons marking surgical sites before
patients are wheeled into surgery. That's how much cer-
tainty Pamela Borello-Barnett, RN, BS, CNOR, places on
the essential element of her facility's site-marking prac-
tices. She says surgeons — and only surgeons — are
permitted to sign their initials on or next to incision sites before
patients are permitted to leave pre-op bays at St. John Macomb-
Oakland Hospital in Madison Heights, Mich. Ms. Borello-Barnett, the
hospital's clinical nurse manager of perioperative services, has been
known to call surgeons in the lounge to offer a friendly reminder that
their cases won't start on time if they don't pop down to sign surgical
sites.
The same steadfast surgeon-must-sign-the-site rule is in place at the
Daniel Cook | Executive Editor
Sign the Right Correct Site
It takes plenty of planning and persistence
to ensure surgeons always hit the mark.
• CHECK, PLEASE Involve multiple members of
the surgical team in a multilayered site-marking
protocol.