nurse leader and
patient experience
coordinator. "Pre-op
works better with the
front desk, the OR
works better with
PACU, PACU works
better with pre-op. It
comes full circle."
Checklists and
communication
In addition to boost-
ing staff and sur-
geons' teamwork, the
center also looked for
ways to improve
basic aspects of
patient care. For
example, Ms.
Kinniard notes that
the safety and quality
improvement commit-
tees recently revised
the safe surgery
checklist, which is a
communication tool
used to assist with
patient handoffs in
the perioperative
process. "This has
5 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6
The Same Day Surgery department at the Southern
Ohio Medical Center focused on improving patient
satisfaction in one particularly painful area: IV
sticks. The department uses a mix of lidocaine and
sodium bicarbonate to numb the area before stick-
ing patients, says Jackie Knauff, BSN, RN, CAPA,
clinical nurse educator.
Here's how it works. Each day, the hospital's
pharmacy prepares the lidocaine-sodium bicarbon-
ate mixture. Nurses draw up the mixture and insert
it into the skin at the site where they're planning to
start the IV. Any leftover mixture is discarded, and a
fresh batch is made by the pharmacy each day.
"The site is numbed and the patient only feels
pressure, if that, when the IV is started," says Ms.
Knauff. "I have experienced this type of an IV start
and can honestly say that it truly does not hurt."
PAIN-FREE IVs
Southern Ohio Medical Center
Has a Better Way to Start an IV
• PRESSURE, NOT PAIN A lidocaine-sodium bicarbonate mixture numbs the site of the IV start.
