port, the chairs are
easy for staff to
maneuver down halls,
around tight corners
and into rooms.
Perhaps their best
feature is the durable
and wireless remote
attached to each one
that staff use to trans-
form the chairs into
recliners and surgical
tables. A chair's
remote can be used to
make slight adjust-
ments to its configuration on a case-by-case and patient-by-patient
basis. We primarily use it to cycle the chair through preprogrammed
positions that improve our clinical efficiencies. In pre-op, a nurse
punches position "1" on the remote to place the patient in Semi-
Fowler's — seated comfortably with their legs up and head slightly
elevated. They recline in comfort as the nurse dilates their pupils,
readying them for the journey ahead. When the patient is wheeled
into the femtosecond laser suite, a nurse pushes "2" on the remote to
recline the patient for positioning at the laser unit.
After patients are moved to the OR where cataracts are replaced
with lens implants, the circulating nurse hits "3" on the remote to
position patients according to our surgeons' preferences. Instead of
fiddling with the remote to position the patient just so, she taps a but-
ton and readies the room for surgery while the chair automatically
repositions the patient. In PACU, a nurse punches up position "4" on
J U N E 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 9 3
Victoria
Wiltshire,
MBA,
RN
END OF THE LINE Stretcher chairs are wiped down after use and returned to pre-op
for another spin through the perioperative circuit.
