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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 | J U LY 2 0 1 5
Shhh! Surgery in Progress
Excessive noise distracts the OR team from patient care.
E
quipment
beeps, instru-
ments whir,
cell phones vibrate,
overhead pages
boom, iPods pulsate
and the conversation
flows. Is it any won-
der patient care
sometimes gets lost
in the din? If noise
pollution is a problem
in your ORs, here's
how to turn down the volume.
Quiet in the room
Excess talking and noise may prevent caregivers from hearing impor-
tant questions or directions. They may not be immediately aware of a
negative turn in the patient's condition or able to focus on tasks during
critical times in patient care: such as the patient's arrival in the OR,
anesthesia induction and emergence, the pre-op time out, instrument
and sponge counting, and calls from pathology.
Some of those tasks may be relatively simple, but they're also
extremely important. When they're being performed, you need quiet in
the room so communication is effective and everyone can be heard
clearly and is able to focus without interruption.
As part of her research on the impact of noise pollution in the OR,
one of our anesthesiologists, Rosalind Ritchie, MD, measured decibel
S A F E T Y
Katherine Daniels, RN
z SILENT TREATMENT Yacker Trackers, stoplight noise sensors that
blink at various decibel levels, remind staff to tone down their talking.
University
of
Kentucky
HealthCare
