Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/476296
cal site to ensure the surgeon's initials are still present. Cherry Maloney, RN, MBA, CSPM, the central sterile manager at the Callahan Eye Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., says laterality risk is a major concern at her high-volume ophthalmology facility. Surgeons are required to mark their initials above the correct eye with sterile markers and place a wristband on the side of the correct eye. "The banded wrist is kept outside of the drape in case the initials are covered after draping," explains Ms. Maloney. "Patients do not enter the OR until this pre-time-out verification has been completed. We have had great success with no wrong-site surgeries, largely due to this process." 5. Pre-op shower kits Asking patients to bathe or wipe with antiseptic agents in an effort to reduce skin flora before surgery makes good intuitive sense, even if the practice has not yet been directly linked to a reduction in surgical site infection risk. Patients at Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisc., are instructed to use 2% chlorhexidine-impregnated wipes at home in the days leading up to surgery, thanks to a recent suggestion by the hospital's infection pre- ventionist. "We remind them to do it during pre-procedure phone calls, ask them if they complied during assessments in pre-op and wipe them down again before they go back to the OR," says Christina Jackson, MSN, RN, CNOR, the hospital's director of perioperative services. Guaranteeing that patients comply with pre-op cleaning instruc- tions while at home is of course impossible, but automated text mes- sage reminders offered by some take-home kits or simple phone call reminders from your staff improve the likelihood that they'll wash or wipe as indicated. In the end, simple is better, says Ms. Kirchner. "If you provide a product with clear instructions, patients tend to follow 7 3 M A R C H 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T