1 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 • J A n U A R Y 2 0 1 8
W
e perform a time out in
the pre-op area to ensure
each patient's paperwork
is complete, specific health issues
have been addressed, and the sur-
geon has confirmed and signed the
correct surgical site. In the past, we
had no uniform way of identifying
which patients were ready to be
brought to the OR and which still
needed to have some aspect of their
pre-op care addressed. Now, nurses
place patients' yellow pre-op forms
in the top 2 rings of a 3-ring binder,
so that the paper sticks out to "flag"
the patient as not being ready for
surgery. The manager of the depart-
ment can notice the "flagged" forms
sticking out of the binders with a
quick scan of the room. After all of
the pre-op checks are completed,
nurses return the sheets to the 3
rings to "unflag" patients for surgery.
Vickie O'Donnell, RN, BSN
Advanced Surgical Institute
Egg Harbor, n.J.
vaodonnell@virtua.org
Flag Patients Not Yet Ready for Surgery
PRE-OP CHECK
• CLEAR SIGNAL Patients with charts that have a "yel-
low flag" sticking out of their binder can't leave pre-op.
Vickie
O'Donnell,
RN,
BSN
Ideas Work
That
