Consistency is key
Policies can guide your facility toward a safer
OR, but it's up to your staff to put them into
action.
When David Comer, RN, BSN, CNOR,
greets a patient before surgery, he follows
the same procedure every time. It doesn't
matter if he has a patient's chart in front of
him or he received the information from
another nurse, he confirms key elements himself. He's asking about
implants, pacemakers, NPO and allergies. He's double-checking that
the correct patient is having the correct procedure at the correct
time.
"I just want to hear it from the patient's mouth," says Mr. Comer, a
circulating nurse at McLaren Macomb in Mount Clemens, Mich.
After participating in thousands of procedures over 35 years, Mr.
Comer says it might be easy to take the process for granted. Those
years of experience can make you feel like you've seen it all.
"I can't become complacent in that," says Mr. Comer. "That's when
you start to miss things."
For him, safety in the OR is all about one key principle that has
become second nature.
"You have to do it the same way all the time," he says.
OSM
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 9
David Comer, RN, BSN, CNOR