facility leader, acknowledging that it might lead to some late starts, "but
now it is routine for the surgeons to come early to mark the site."
Involving the patient
A large majority of respondents say that per protocol, they always
involve the patient in the site-marking process, if possible. Still, a sur-
prising 1 in 20 say they don't. Why not?
The Veterans Health Administration, expanding on the Universal
Protocol, recommends asking patients during the verification process
to not only state their names and Social Security numbers, but also to
point at and touch the parts of their bodies where the procedure
should take place. The idea is to eliminate potential ambiguity. The
"2
nd
finger on my right hand" may not mean the same thing to a
patient and a provider.
Furthermore, if there happen to be 2 patients named Bob Miller and
2 named Maria Garcia in your facility on a given day, it's a reassuring
safeguard to have all 4 parties confirm why they're there.
What about those rare patients who refuse to be marked? Most say
they've never seen it happen. But when it does, "we discuss with the
patient the risk of not marking the site," says Dawn Vocke, MSN,
5 1
J U LY 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
and patient should all be actively involved and concur with the site marking.
8. Talk to the patient about site marking during the pre-op visit. Marking should take
place with the patient involved, awake and aware, if possible.
9. Promise to remove the ink after the case. Hand sanitizer contains a good amount
of alcohol, which works to thin and erase the ink from a marking pen.
10. If you have to remove hair from the surgical site,
clip the site before you mark it.
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery Magazine Reader Survey, June 2015, n=556
