Philadelphia, Pa. "We didn't have to convince anyone of the impor-
tance of smoke evacuation after our presentation, which inspired us
to push for change."
Hand out questionnaires during staff meetings to gauge how much
your staff already knows about the dangers of surgical smoke, sug-
gests Ms. McNulty. Keep a tally of how many evacuators are used
before your educational efforts, a month later and 3 months out to
understand how well your message gets across and how sustainable it
is.
She believes the facts speak for themselves when it comes to elimi-
nating exposure to surgical smoke, and more surgical professionals
need to be informed of the risks involved. "I honestly believe one of
the main reasons smoke evacuation is not being used is due to a lack
of knowledge," says Ms. McNulty. "Constantly talking about the sub-
ject is a way to keep it fresh in everyone's minds."
After multiple educational sessions at Littleton Adventist Hospital,
94% of the staff knew about the dangers of what they were breathing in
during surgery, a significantly higher percentage than before the infor-
mation was disseminated. "Our team recognized what they were being
exposed to on a daily basis," says Ms. Prince, "and they wanted to take
action."
Push for change
Going smoke-free in the OR takes plenty of hard work and internal
campaigning, especially when trying to convince surgeons, some of
whom don't fully believe surgical smoke causes long-term side effects
or illnesses — perhaps because they spend only a fraction of the time
around smoke compared with the nurses and the rest of the surgical
team members who work long days in the OR. That's partly why
much of the push for mandatory smoke evacuation across the country
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