ing over rooms. She captured several flaws.
"People were awfully busy chit-chatting during turnover," says Ms.
Paxton, unit-based educator at St. Luke's. And while some surfaces
weren't being wiped down at all, others, like the operating table, were
being wiped down 2
or 3 times. "That
helped us recognize
wasted movement.
We didn't have a sys-
tematic process for
who did what tasks,"
says Ms. Paxton.
Ms. Paxton's team
was able to cut
turnover times in
about half for most
cases, down to 10 to
15 minutes. She and
staff members posted
specific room
turnover tasks on 3
laminated cards that
are stored in slots
outside of each of the
10 ORs. Turnover
team members grab
the assignment cards
in the order that they
arrive; if more than 3
people are available
4 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6
