which isn't suitable for use during certain procedures. Different surgi-
cal teams also use various techniques to place patients in the supine
position. Plus, patients have individual positioning needs based on a
variety of factors, including skin integrity and physical make-up.
"We wanted to empower staff to work with their team in the OR to
make positioning happen with best practices always in mind," says
Ms. Rusch.
Whenever a new position is rolled out, relevant information is post-
ed on bulletin boards and shared at staff huddles. The info is also kept
in resource binders in the ORs, as well as in a folder on the depart-
ment's online server.
Increased awareness
Overall, says Ms. Rusch, "The changes that ended up coming out of
our project had to do with best practices, [whether] we have the best
devices for positioning our patients, and what else can we be doing
and looking for. It was also about heightening awareness, in terms of
assessing our patients a bit more frequently, checking for any kind of
movement in patient positioning, and making sure we're using the
devices that are going to help promote prevention of pressure or
nerve injury development."
Ms. Rusch suggests staying up to date on the latest best practices
and techniques for patient positioning. "I reference AORN guidelines
because they're based on a comprehensive literature review, but I also
use search engines like PubMed, CINAHL Plus and Google Scholar to
look for a good sampling of best practices, and what current research
is recommending," she says. "It's essential to have those tools to help
you. Any new information that comes out yearly is good to stay on top
of."
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