2 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 6
Surgery is a machine with many moving parts. It's also a process driven by human habits (your sur-
geons' preferences, for example) and prone to human inexactness (like your storage room). Here
are a few helpful hints for keeping the parts and the process running smoothly.
— Compiled by David Bernard
• Place for everything. Wouldn't it be convenient if
the equipment you were looking for could always be
found in the same place when you needed it? Try organ-
izing your storage room like a parking garage, with
access aisles and reserved parking spots, then mark the
space with tape and signs indicating which items go
where. When equipment is returned to its designated
spot, it'll be right there when the next user seeks it out.
• Draw the line. Once you've rolled the
equipment into the OR, tape can also remind
you exactly how your docs want it set up and
save them the hassle of repositioning it
before they begin. Colored tape on the floor —
a different color for each surgeon — demar-
cates where the microscope, foot pedal and
other devices should go for each one's cases,
and tape marks on a metal yardstick indicates
their preferred stretcher height.
The Right Thing in the Right Place
Innovative
Ideas
