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too early."
Perhaps it's even the front-line staffers who have the most reliable information. "Don't administer the antibiotic until the operating room tells you they are ready for the patient," says the administrator of a California surgery center.
Confirm compliance
Whether your antibiotic administration protocol depends on a specific staffer or a step in the pre-op process, reminders can help to ascertain that the doses have been delivered, or still need to be.
"We developed a system whereby the pre-op admitting nurse puts a bright yellow, laminated card on the bed tray stating 'Needs Antibiotic,'" says Julianne Nesselroade, RN, BSN, the pre-op and PACU manager at Gladiolus Surgery Center in Fort Myers, Fla. If the card's gone, it's clear the task's been taken care of.
At Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, S.C., patients aren't allowed out of pre-op without their antibiotics. "We have a checklist for all surgery patients to leave pre-op in our EMR and paper charts. It includes signed consent, updated H&P and
