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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
chart, even though some EMR programs don't let you put all the facts
in.
• Historian. Yes, I know you do this procedure the same way every
time. Yes, I know your preference sheet isn't correct. No, I don't know
who's supposed to fix that. Yes, I know how long you've been operating here.
• Urban planner. What is the best use of this space? How are we going
to fit all that equipment into this tiny room and still fit the patient and
a sterile field? We'll need to set some boundaries here to turn this
chaos into order.
• Actuary. What's the probability that events that have occurred in
this room before (we opened 1 too many sutures, we dropped the ligaclip, the cautery and suction fell off the field) will happen again, and
how can we minimize the cost on them?
If only Florence Nightingale could see how versatile we've become. I
think we all need a raise. OSM
Ms. Watkins can be reached at pwatkins12@comcast.net.
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | F E B R U A R Y 2013