Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/809595
Dr. Viscusi says U.S. surgeons are "generous" with opioids, com- pared with doctors in the rest of the world. Elsewhere, he's quoted as saying in a published report, "you will not get a big bottle of opioids when you leave." But he says it's fair to wonder if patients won't think they're being "shortchanged" if they're told to take Aleve rather than Percocet. "Most patients still want the good stuff," says Dr. Viscusi. "There's still this pro-opioid bias." Let's now move to surgical attire. In this month's "Infection Prevention" column on page 80, Lisa Spruce, DNP, RN, CNOR, the director of evidence-based perioperative practice for the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses, argues that when your surgeons and staff don't follow correct attire practices, such as completely covering their hair and not wearing scrubs outside the OR, they're endangering patients by putting them at risk for infection. There's some evidence that this is true, but this is an emotional issue. People feel very strongly about being told what to wear to work. Surgeons will continue to wear skullcaps emblazoned with the logo of their college alma mater that expose their sideburns and the hair at the nape of their necks. And OR personnel will continue to pump gas and grocery shop in their scrubs. Dr. Spruce knows AORN is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to enforcing a dress code on the surgical uniform. "OR members refuse to follow the recommendations based on personal preference and not on the evidence, particularly with head covering," says Dr. Spruce. Still, she urges you to encourage your surgeons and staff to "reduce infection risks as much as possible — even if it's not always the easiest or most convenient choice." Who's right? Who's wrong? Hard to say. But it's fun to argue. Just as I am writing this, a reader emails with another interesting Editor's Page EP 1 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 1 7