Announcements
National Time Out Day is June 18th.
Related Links
Supporting Documents
National Time Out Day
Every Patient. Every Time. Take A Time Out For Patient
Safety.
June 18, 2008
To encourage surgical teams to take time out before every invasive procedure to confirm correct patient, correct procedure, correct surgical site, and other important information to ensure patient safety, AORN is partnering with the Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety (CSPS) and The Joint Commission to recognize National Time Out Day on June 18th.Wrong-site surgery and other preventable mistakes still occur too frequently in US operating rooms. That's why in 2004, The Joint Commission released the Universal Protocol urging that a "time out" precede every surgical procedure to verify the correct patient information prior to incision. In support of the Universal Protocol, AORN began sponsoring National Time Out Day to raise awareness about the importance of requiring the entire surgical team—including physicians, nurses, and surgical technologists—to pause before all invasive procedures to communicate as a group and confirm key information about the patient and procedure to help prevent errors from occurring.
This year take the opportunity to recognize National Time Out Day to remind every member of the surgical team how critical it is to take time out for patient safety. Download AORN's Correct Site Surgery Tool Kit, which contains a variety of resources to educate health care providers about the Universal Protocol and to assist them with its implementation.
In collaboration with The Joint Commission and the Council on Surgical & Perioperative Safety, AORN also created a new poster to remind professionals, health care providers, and administrators that "Every Patient. Every Time. Take A Time Out For Patient Safety." is the top priority for safe health care delivery. Members can request a copy of this poster by calling the AORN Customer Service Department at 800-755-2676, Ext. 1 or by downloading the poster (PDF).
RESOURCES
AORN
National Time Out Day Poster (PDF)
Correct Site Surgery Tool Kit
The Joint Commission
Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery™
Council on Surgical & Perioperative Safety (CSPS)
Core Principles