1 4 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 2 0
A
nxious patients
waiting in pre-
op bays don't
want to see their sur-
geons wandering
around looking for who
they're going to be
operating on next. To
eliminate that possibili-
ty, we hang signs to
direct surgeons to the
right bed. It's quite sim-
ple. For privacy rea-
sons, we don't write the
patient's name on the
signage. Instead, we
came up with a code
that only our staff and surgeons know, which is decoded in the
photo caption to the left. Now, when surgeons enter the pre-op
area, they look for their initials and the number of the next case
of their day on a sign hanging in front of one of the pre-op bays.
Surgeons love the system because they simply look up to find out
where they're needed next. Our staff made signs for every sur-
geon, and the system has been working flawlessly.
Nikki Williams, RN, CNOR
Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center
nwilliams@lsdc.net
PRE-OP EFFICIENCY
Cracking the Code to Surgeon Satisfaction
SIGN LANGUAGE The number 8 is the pre-op bay to which the patient is
assigned, the number 9 indicates the 9th case of the day for the surgeon
and VO are the surgeon's initials.
Nikki
Williams,
RN,
CNOR
Ideas Work
That
