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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with the team the correct patient, procedure and position during the time out. Focused debriefs Kristy Simmons, MSN, RN, CNOR, a NICU OR resource nurse and Magnet Nurse Champion Chair at Women's Hospital in Baton Rouge, La., once noticed surgical errors and sentinel events were more likely to happen at the end of a case as the OR staff verifies surgical counts, closes out the patient chart and goes over patient-specific concerns with the surgeon. The most common errors included fail- ing to document accurate procedures when a sched- uled diagnostic case turned into an interventional procedure, specimens getting lost and inaccurately documenting the patient's blood loss. "We reviewed sentinel events and realized that most of the improvements we had to make related to processes in place at the end of the case," says Ms. Simmons. "We needed to educate the staff on the proper ways to close out a chart, conduct a debriefing and verify with the surgeon what exactly they did during surgery." As a result, the facility devel- oped a debriefing card and tai- lored it to the specific needs of the facility's patients. The main circulating nurse runs through a checklist on the form, which pro- motes patient safety and commu- nication among the OR staff. "It allows us to verify the actual pro- cedure that was performed, the amount of blood loss, that speci- mens were properly collected and that every aspect of the proce- dure is properly documented," says Ms. Simmons. Before implementation of the debriefing card, eight sentinel events occurred involving inaccu- rate counts, blood loss, retained objects, missing specimens and inaccurate documentation of the procedure that was performed. Post-implementation, the facility recorded only two sentinel events, a 75% reduction. With the help of the debriefing card, handoffs with the recovery staff also run more smoothly and miscommunication between caregivers happens less frequently. In this age of uncertainty, it's reassuring to know that a simple safety checklist or debriefing card can prevent something as devastating as a never event. Still, it's not an easy feat to get physicians and staff to alter their routines, especially those who might still view time outs and debriefings as tedious. "When we first implemented the debriefing card, the main circulator would run through it quickly, but now surgeons step back from the field and recite exactly what they've done during the case without having to be reminded," says Ms. Simmons. "It took some surgeons time to get used to the change, but once they understand that we're trying to do what's best for their patients, they're more than happy to go along with it." OSM D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 5 1 Ansell, ® and ™ ÑŗøťŗÑñøİÑŗĦŜĺſıøñêƅıŜøĩĩYĕİĕťøñĺŗĺıøĺċĕťŜÑƥĕĩĕÑťøŜǍÑťøıťøñÑıñÑıñıĺıǞÑťøıťŜøıñĕıČLJ ſſſǍÑıŜøĩĩǍëĺİǓŔÑťøıťİÑŗĦĕıČțƱƯƱƯıŜøĩĩYĕİĕťøñǍĩĩĕČđťŜøŜøŗžøñǍ For more information visit www.ansell.com/TRIP-NO-MORE or call 866-764-3327 TRIP-NO-MORE ™ CORD COVER đøêŗĕČđťĺŗÑıČøŗĕŔǞbĺǞaĺŗøëĺŗñëĺžøŗťÑİøŜ ūıŗūĩƅøŖūĕŔİøıťëĺŗñŜĺıkǍǍƨĺĺŗŜLjđøĩŔĕıČ ŔŗøžøıťťŗĕŔŜÑıñċÑĩĩŜǍbĺſÑžÑĕĩÑêĩøĕıƷǦLjưƯǦ ÑıñưƱǦſĕñťđŜLjťđøŗĕŔǞbĺǞaĺŗøëĺŗñëĺžøŗ İøøťŜÑžÑŗĕøťƅĺċëĺžøŗÑČøıøøñŜǍ NEW! 12" Wide Roll COVERAGE FOR ANY LEVEL OF CHAOS