right. Or is it left? Ophthalmic surgeons who
take a blind stab have a 50% chance of cutting
into the correct eye, but right-side surgery
shouldn't come down to a coin flip. At
Vermont Eye Surgery & Laser Center in
Burlington, multiple layers of checks and
quintuple checks all but guarantee it doesn't.
Here's a look at the standardized steps staff
there follow to ensure sites are marked cor-
rectly.
• The process to confirm the correct eye
should begin with ensuring the information
received from surgeons' offices is correct,
says Mary Clairmont, RN, the facility's clinic
administrator. If it's not, multiple checks in
place will simply confirm wrong information.
• Have nurses who contact patients a
week before scheduled procedures ask the
patients to confirm on which eye the sur-
geon will operate.
• Make sure your facility's scheduler gathers
the patients' consent forms and operative
notes, and ensures the information contained
in each matches the eyes noted on case book-
ing sheets. Include the paperwork in patients'
charts.
• In pre-op, if the patient's name, procedure
and eye match what's noted in the chart, have
staff place a "L" or "R" sticker above the cor-
responding eye and tape a clear plastic shield
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 3
viscotcs@viscot.com • 800.221.0658
www.viscot.com
ChloraPrep™ is a trademark of Becton, Dickinson and Company.
XL Prep
Resistant Ink
A more visible
site mark every time
See demo here:
w w w.bit.ly/XL-D emo
Available in a
gentian violet free
alternative visible
on all skin tones
viscotcs@viscot.com • 800.221.0658
www.viscot.com
See demo here:
w w w.bit.l y/XL-D emo
Available in a
gentian violet free
alternative visible
on all skin tones
e
