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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | A U G U S T 2 0 1 5
I D E A S T H A T W O R K
R
ed means stop. Red says, "Pay attention!" Red takes charge. In the perioperative
environment, which demands the unambiguous communication of a lot of infor-
mation as clearly and as rapidly as possible, red gets a message across on the
double. Here are a few ways that resourceful surgical managers have put the color to use in
the service of patient safety.
1. Fall risk reduction. When all your other patients are wearing standard
gray grippy-soled socks, the ones in red non-slip booties will definitely
stand out. That's why you might want to consider putting red socks on
your fall risk patients, including those who use a cane or a walker. The red
socks will identify patients who require extra handling, mobility or ambu-
lation care, and will help to prevent fall injuries.
2. Medication safety. Preparing a patient's medications is one of
many tasks that must never be interrupted. But because the pre-
parer is often working in the middle of other activities, with her
back turned, it's easy to accidentally interrupt her. To ward off dis-
tractions, hand out inexpensive red dish towels to your nursing
staff, instructing them to drape the towels over their shoulders while they're drawing up
meds and never to disturb a red-toweled colleague. It's a highly visible and highly effective
"red flag" for safety.
3. Allergy alert. Red wristbands — commonly used to
alert providers to medication, latex or other allergies or
sensitivities — only cost a couple of cents per patient. So
wrap one around every patient's wrist, whether they have
allergies or their bracelet reads "NKA" for "no known
allergies." That way you can be sure that every surgeon,
anesthesia provider, nurse and tech will take the time to look at the bracelet, and that they
each have the complete and correct information for every patient.
INNOVATIVE IDEAS
The Many Roles of Red
