Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Going Green for the Greater Good - March 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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our ORs have embraced the concept of the Risk Zone, which we define as the isolation of the patient's immediate environment. Any equipment, instruments or people within arm's reach of, or in actu- al contact with, a patient are inside the zone. The idea is to contain all contamination risk within that immediate area by establishing clear-cut guidelines such as these: • In pre-op. Make sure a note identifying the patient as a carrier is easily visible on the chart or in the EMR. Place the patient in a desig- nated isolation room or bay with door signage. Keep the chart in an attached ante room. In the isolation area, have the patient perform hand hygiene and sign consent forms. Wipe down or throw away the pen they use. Place the forms in the patient's chart. • During transport to surgery. Slide the chart in a clean yellow bag or pillowcase. The nurse transporting the patient should wear a yellow gown and gloves to signify the patient is in contact isola- tion. To open the OR door, the nurse should not use her hands, but rather her elbows or back. If the door requires a badge scan, the nurse should lean over the sensor with her badge. • Inside the OR. The anesthesia provider should don a yellow gown and gloves before the patient enters. The circulator should also wear yellow PPE and stay with the patient inside the Risk Zone for transfer to the bed, positioning and anesthesia induction. Anyone assisting with positioning must be gowned and gloved. It's extremely helpful to find another RN or tech who always stays outside of the Risk Zone to assist as a staff resource. This person enters the patient's in-room time on the computer, and is subsequently available to open supplies, grab blankets out of the warmer, make phone calls and so on. After the patient has been moved to the surgical table, wipe down the transport bed or stretcher in the OR before moving it to Infection Prevention IP 3 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 0

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