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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
oom turnover can some-
times seem like a chaot-
ic, clamorous fire drill,
with staff members rushing to
help ready the room for the next
case and repeating tasks that
have already been performed or,
worse yet, not completing a
required cleaning step because
they thought it had already been
done. Here's a simple solution that's
sure to streamline your room
turnover. Use assignment
cards to take the guesswork
out of what needs to done
during room turnover. We
place 3 cards with specific
cleaning duties listed on them
in slots outside each OR.
Turnover team members grab
the assignment cards in the order that they arrive; if more than 3 peo-
ple are available to help turnover the room, the cards note the respon-
sibility of the additional helpers (clean the anesthesia equipment and
take dirty linen to the trash room, for example).
Patti Paxton, RN
St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center
Twin Falls, Idaho
pattip@slhs.org
A S S I G N M E N T C A R D S
A Simple Trick to Streamline Room Turnover
z PICK A CARD Arriving staff members know exactly what
needs to be done.
Patti
Paxton,
RN