1 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 A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9
S
urgical professionals constantly focus on protecting
patients from harm, but what about their own well-being?
One danger those of us working in the OR regularly face is
surgical smoke. In order to make our staff more aware of the
risks and potential effects of constant exposure, we printed pho-
tos of various smoke-related symptoms — coughing or eye irrita-
tion — and placed them around high-traffic areas in the surgical
department. Below the photos, we noted smoke as a potential
cause. I've heard nurses who see the photos say to one another,
"Hey, I've been coughing. Did you see surgical smoke could be
causing it?" It makes our staff more aware of the risks involved in
plume-producing cases and encourages them to use smoke
evacuators to protect themselves from harm.
Joann Ruff, BSN, CNOR
Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Pictures Are Worth a Thousand Warnings
Garfield Heights, Ohio
jruff@ccf.org
• RAISE AWARENESS Place images of smoke-related symptoms around your staff's most frequent stops to make them
more aware of the risks they face in the OR.
Joann
Ruff,
BSN,
CNOR
Ideas Work
That
