team had a way to monitor, in real-time, the effects of the patient's posi-
tion on a specific region of the body and had to pause to make adjust-
ments. This pause for positioning assessment is something that should
occur regardless of whether your facility offers intraoperative monitor-
ing.
6 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 • F E B R U A R U Y 2 0 1 8
See that saline bag
tucked under the
patient's neck for
use as a shoulder
roll in the photo to
the right? Bad idea.
And a dangerous
practice. AORN
mentions in its posi-
tioning guidelines
not to use saline
bags as positioning
aids. The amount of
pressure the bag
applies can't be measured. There have also been reports of elec-
trical burns to patients caused by saline bags that developed
leaks while being used for positioning. Just because something
conforms to a patient's body doesn't necessarily mean it's a good
positioning device. If the manufacturer doesn't say it's for posi-
tioning and there are no studies investigating its effectiveness,
you're better off using devices designed to position patients.
— JoEllen McBride, PhD
DANGEROUS PRACTICE
Do You Use Saline Bags as Shoulder Rolls? (You Shouldn't!)
• BURN POTENTIAL Using saline bags as a positioning device could leave your
patient — and your facility — badly burned.
Linda
Logan,
CRNA
