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LETTERS & E-Mails
letters@outpatientsurgery.net
Do-It-Yourself Room Turnover
◗ Re: "Secrets to Speedier Room Turnover" (November, page 24). This was a good article with quite a few good pointers, but some of the recommendations seem geared more toward a hospital setting rather than a freestanding ambulatory surgery center. The most obvious case in point is that we, the healthcare providers, are the housekeeping staff. We also don't have the FTEs for a facilitator nurse or OR assistants. We depend on the scrub tech, the circulator and a few (sometimes only 1) staff members in the hall who aren't actively involved in cases to jump in and help with the turnover. We usually average 15- to 20-minute turnovers, but there's always room for improvement.
Linda W. Frix, RN, BSN, CAPA
Northern Virginia Surgery Center
Fairfax, Va.
lfrix@fairoakssc.com
◗ We are a small hospital that does not have a transporter or house-keeping during the day to assist with turnover. The only staff available are the techs and RNs doing the case. What do you recommend when you have barebones staffing?
Deborah Henning, RN
J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital
Huntingdon, Pa.