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A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT 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
Many moving parts
Cleaning the room and emptying the trash are only parts of a success-
ful turnover equation. There's much more to it.
• Alert the members of your turnover team that a room is ready to be
cleaned.
For starters, the turnover team must respond quickly to the
room that needs cleaning. Whether it's an overhead page, putting
the call light on when you're ready to take the patient out of the
room, ringing a bell, a surgeon rising from the table (if the staff in
the room are the ones
who clean the room
between procedures) or,
in the case of small
facilities like the Rye
ASC, "opening the OR
door and calling out for
help," you must some-
how signal the turnover
team to jump into
action. The Scripps
Mercy Surgery Pavillion
in San Diego, Calif., has
4 ORs arranged in a
horseshoe. "Our 1
housekeeper is very vig-
ilant and is always pres-
ent during turnovers,"
says Director of Nursing
Donna Cooley, BSN.
At the Jack C.
Montgomery VA Medical
T U R N O V E R
More than half (55.4%) of the surgical facil-
ity leaders we polled say their ORs are
turned over in less than 15 minutes.
Less than 10 minutes
30.1%
10 to 15 minutes
25.3%
15 to 20 minutes
16.9%
20 to 25 minutes
9.6%
25 to 30 minutes
4.8%
30 to 35 minutes
7.2%
35 to 40 minutes
2.4%
40 to 45 minutes
0%
more than 45 minutes
1.2%
We don't measure turnover times
2.4%
SOURCE:
Outpatient Surgery Magazine
Reader Survey, July 2014, n=84
WORKING FAST
What Is Your Average
Room Turnover Time?
