surgical suite on a different floor of its existing facility. They hope to
open in 2020. Ms. Ball plans to keep her table purchases simple.
"The more fancy things you have, the more things that can go wrong
with the table," she says.
The challenge is, as she puts it, "checking off all those boxes and
making sure you have all the accessories and it does all the things you
need it to do for the types of surgeries you're doing."
To ensure she makes the right purchasing decision, Ms. Ball plans to
develop clear clinical criteria that, along with hands-on viewing and
pricing, will guide the process. Post-warranty service contracts are
important to negotiate at the time of purchase to ensure that the
tables are maintained in good working order, she adds.
Regrets, they had a few
From low battery life to difficulty putting patients in the beach chair
position, our survey detected a bit of buyer's remorse. Features respon-
dents said they'd gladly do without included voice-activated control,
remote control and self-propulsion for moving the bed from room to
room. A clinical coordinator wishes her cataract surgery stretcher-chair
had grab handles to help her maneuver it through her department's
many twists and turns. One respondent wishes her table's headrest had a
hole for the face for patients in the prone position. Another had a long
list of laments. She wishes her tables could be used with multiple types
of procedures, had better maneuverability, a higher degree of articula-
tion and wireless controls.
Finally, Karen Gabbert, RN, BSN, clinical director of the Surgery
Center of Kansas in Wichita, Kan., wishes bariatric tables were wider
than traditional beds. "You would think," she says, "that a bed with a
600-pound limit would take into consideration that patients are not 7-
feet tall!"
OSM
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