tions for managing surgical smoke.
Eventually, we brought everyone into a classroom setting, reviewed
the basics, and demonstrated both the smoke evacuators that could be
used in ORs and all the supply items that are used with them. We
demonstrated how to attach the equipment, how to turn it on, how to
check filters, and so on. And finally, in a big step, we put together
some fact sheets to help people in their discussions with surgeons.
3. We encouraged staff members to make themselves heard. We want-
ed them to talk to surgeons, and when they did, we wanted to make
sure they had solid facts and data, based on the research we'd done.
We continued to provide talking points and support for people who
wanted to have those conversations and help get the program off the
ground.
We also knew that sometimes, even if physicians aren't convinced
that something is a big issue, they'll cooperate because they've devel-
oped strong working relationships with staff and they want to keep
the team happy. To bolster the effort, we created a series of posters
and hung them by every scrub sink outside the OR. And we changed
the posters every 2 weeks, so people wouldn't just look at them and
say, Oh, I've already read that one.
4. We collected feedback. We got positive responses from several
physicians who said they didn't know surgical smoke was so harmful.
In fact, many began asking for smoke evacuation supplies. To make it
as easy as possible for them, we've added the supplies to our equip-
ment carts. We've also updated those surgeons' preference cards to
include smoke-evacuation supplies.
To provide further incentives and help solidify good habits, we cre-
ated a "smoke busters" group that audits ORs and rewards teams that
are using evacuation in cases that call for it. Every member of the
team — the physician, the anesthesia provider, the nurses and the
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