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stretch across the floor to reach wall outlets plug neatly into outlets built into the head and foot of equipment booms.
If you don't have the benefit of a boom and must use wall outlets, you can still keep cords off the floor. Try these simple cord-consolidation strategies you can do quite easily, like arranging the equipment so
that the cords lie on the floor rather than hang in the air. "Position equipment as close to the outlet as possible and on the correct side of the room," says Stacy Meadows, RN, clinical supervisor of North State Surgery Centers in Redding, Calif. You can also zip-tie cords together and hang anesthesia cables from the ceiling. Plug electrical equipment into the receptacles in groups to avoid stretching extra cords across the floor from multiple power boxes. Even the placement of the anesthesia provider matters. Make sure he's not in the path of the staff and make sure that he has everything he needs so that he doesn't need to get up.
"Keeping cords off the floor is a huge challenge. The more equipment you have, the more cords you have," says Chris Eggert-Rosenthal, MSN, RN, CNOR.
Other ideas require more time and expense. You can mount power strips on your electrosurgery stands, says Ms. Eggert-Rosenthal. Or next time you upgrade your video system, consider going wireless, as they did at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center in Albuquerque, N.M. "We implemented a wireless system for the video tower and slave tower system to reduce the numbers of cords as trip hazards," says Robert Payette, the charge RN.
Non-slip footwear
Don't overlook the preventive powers of non-slip footwear for patients (gripped-bottom slipper socks) and staff (rubber-soled shoes). Christa Aycock, BSN, RN, CNOR, director of surgical services
