Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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1 2 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 | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 ual predators will look behind both shoulders to make sure no one's watching before they abuse their victims. "I believe an underlying personality trait of infalli- bility and or perversion must be present," says Sean Hintz, CRNA, of Benton, La. "It can happen in the open, but I suspect it's done mostly surreptitiously." Never leave a patient alone in the OR or in PACU with a solo member of the opposite sex, and ensure that a same-sex nurse attends to every patient at all times. "Many of my younger co-workers see it as old-fashioned, but I adhere to the principle of a same-gender person as the patient being on the surgical team," says an RN. "The standard of care for an anesthetized patient should be 2 clinicians pres- ent," says a facility manager. "Two people are less likely to collude and commit a sexual offense than 1 person. A patient in a vulnerable state should never be left alone, and no one with common sense about their legal liability and license should ever want to be alone with a vulnerable patient." 2. Realize human nature. Some people are predatory by nature, and sometimes a level of depravity simmers just beneath the calm surface. As Dan Simonson, CRNA, MHPA, of Spokane, Wash., says, "There are factors in our genetic inheri- tance going back to our predatory past that play into it." So why tempt fate by putting a surgical team member alone in a room with an anesthetized patient who's none the wiser? All it takes is to leave the patient alone in the OR with the anesthesiologist or scrub tech for a minute while the circulator readies for the next case. "We must act to prevent this from ever occurring to our patients — and the best way to do it is to make sure there is no opportunity," adds Mr. Simonson. "The predators that walk among us must be kept at bay." Remove opportunity and realize human nature. "Shining a bright light in the corners makes the crawly things scatter," says Jane Taylor, MSN, RN, a clinical instructor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. OSM E D I T O R ' S PA G E