R
ob Taylor, RN, BS, IP, was about
halfway through his very first day on
the job as the clinical director of the
Constitution Surgery Center in
Waterford, Conn., when he was sud-
denly called into the OR for something that wasn't
listed on his admittedly mundane onboarding itiner-
ary. "One of our surgical techs slipped on a wet spot
on the floor and broke her hip and elbow," says Mr.
Taylor. "It was not only my first day, it was the
tech's third shift at our center." Hit the ground
running was more than a figure of speech in Mr.
Taylor's case.
After ensuring the injured tech received proper
medical care and filling out a mountain of paper-
work, Mr. Taylor and his OR team conducted a root
cause analysis to find out what went wrong and,
more importantly, what they could do to prevent
something similar from happening again. "The ini-
tial analysis led to some immediate changes," says
Mr. Taylor. "We noticed the mops we used left
behind more fluid on the floor than we'd like, so we
purchased different mop heads."
Of course, addressing slip and trip risks shouldn't
wait until you're called to help an injured staff
member. You need to spot — and address — poten-
tial problems before they become major incidents.
Everything in its place
Have you ever successfully navigated across multi-
ple rooms of your house in total darkness without
so much as grazing into something because you
know the overall layout like the back of your hand?
With the proper setup, that type of awareness can
(and should) take place in the OR. "Whenever I was
circulating, I always tried to set up cases the exact
same way," says Amy Brunson, MSN, RN, CNOR,
nurse manager at Baylor Scott & White Medical
Center in Temple, Texas. "That way, my team knew
exactly where equipment was going to be posi-
M A R C H 2 0 2 1 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 5
1
Eliminate Slip-and-Trip Hazards
Ensuring OR floors remain clean and
clear will keep staff — and patients — safe.
Jared Bilski | Managing Editor
ROOM TO MOVE It's important to keep high-traffic areas clear of obstacles, especially in fast-paced ORs.
