smoke, do you?" Many
younger surgeons see
the research and real-
ize this could affect
them, too, so they
aren't as non-compli-
ant.
We even played up
the PR and marketing
angle: How great
would it be if our hos-
pital was the first in
the region to say we're
smoke-free in the OR and on our campus. Mandatory smoke evacua-
tion is going to be legislation soon, so why not just be compliant
before that?
My advice: Educate from the bottom up and the top down, and meet
in the middle. I ran continuing education in-services. I shared my
research with anyone who asked — PowerPoints, countermeasures,
barriers, chemical breakdowns, signs and symptoms. I met with all of
the chief nursing officers in our system. One of the most powerful
points I make is that an OR nurse breathes in the equivalent of 30
unfiltered cigarettes a day, and that over 150 chemicals have been
identified in surgical smoke. That really opens eyes. Everybody's jaws
dropped when I presented.
3. Make the financial case
The most pushback I received was from the directors. They worried
about cost (and about having to police the surgeons if they made this
a policy). I took the cost issue head on. My argument was that invest-
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 • 9
• LEGISLATIVE ACTION AORN is spearheading efforts to make smoke evacuation
mandatory in every state.
AORN,
Inc.
