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
