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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supplies are located during the rush of an emergency response unless they practice grabbing them during realistic drills. The drill also proved that as many staff members as possible need to meet at the patient's bedside to grab the MH cart, run for ice to cool the patient and begin reconstituting the dantrolene. • A just culture. The drills Ms. Smith runs are non-punitive; they're used as educational opportunities to point out what went well and what could have gone better. When adverse events actually do occur, an algorithm is used to determine the root cause and what can be done to prevent the event from occurring again. All team members are encouraged to alert clinical managers to errors that occur — or nearly occur — without fear of punishment. Unless the mistake is egregious, Ms. Smith and her leadership team focus on ways to fix the system that causes a mishap instead of looking for someone to blame. • Daily discussions. Clinical teams from the pre-op area, the ORs and the PACU gather each morning for a "circle up," where they dis- cuss safety-related concerns they've seen or heard about, and brain- storm ways to better protect patients. They also preview the day's cases and share with the team the information they need to safely care for patients. • Empowerment. The Valley Hospital made the decision to give nurs- es, techs, surgeons and anesthesia providers the opportunity to com- plete a TeamSTEPPS course. The course uses evidence-based team- work tools to empower everyone in the health system, no matter their position, to speak up when something seems amiss that could result in patient harm, and gives them the autonomy to stop the action if they see an unsafe or potentially unsafe situation. Surgical teams, including sur- geons and anesthesia providers who typically work together, gathered in groups and discussed how they would react to several case scenarios S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 5