over the correct eyebrow and wristbands over the correct
wrist. The surgeon can use a sterile skin marker to initial
the skin next to the sticker. You can place a sticker on the
gown at the right or left shoulder.
"With a very high volume of ophthalmology procedures
in our facility, laterality risk is an added concern," says
Cherry Maloney, RN, MBA, CSPM, the central sterile man-
ager at the Callahan Eye Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. Her
surgeons are required to "mark and band" patients. Using
a sterile marker, the physician initials above the correct
eye and applies an arm band to the wrist of the same
side. The banded wrist is kept outside of the drape should
the initials be covered after draping. "Patients do not enter
the OR until this pre-time-out verification has been com-
pleted," says Ms. Maloney. "We have had great success
with no wrong-site surgeries largely due to this process."
O U T P A T 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 | M A Y 2 0 1 5
z MARK AND BAND Patients at the
Callahan Eye Hospital in Birmingham,
Ala., wear an arm band on the same
side as the eye to be operated on.
Cherry
Maloney,
RN,
MBA,
CSPM
