FROM HEADQUARTERS

What's wrong with this picture?Each year for Congress AORN creates a cartoon that demonstrates breaks in recommended perioperative technique. The cartoons are created by AORN graphic designer Kurt Jones and AORN perioperative nursing specialist Joan Blanchard, RN, MSS, CNOR, CIC.

Can you find the 25 breaks in technique in this year's cartoon? (See the answers below).

Answers

Instruments – individual in the next room washing instruments in the scrub sink
Open door facing scrub sink
Cabinet containing equipment that is leaking with clean and sterile supplies
Cleaning – environmental services person removing a white bag of trash out of the room before end of case
Sign on draped instrument table that says “NEXT CASE” – set up for following case
Cleaning – white bag has blood coming out of the bottom of the bag, should be red bag for hazardous trash
Back instrument table has bloody instruments (retractors) and bloody drape
Back instrument table – basins, med cup have no labels on them
Attire – scrub person has hair and dangling earrings sticking out of cap
Surgeon is working in the incision with an electrode and there is a lot of smoke in the air, no smoke evacuator
The first assistant is fanning the smoke away from the incision
Attire – surgeon has his scrub gown open in the back with ties hanging down
Patient arm out on arm-board with identification band coming off his wrist
Patient leg coming off the operating table
Bloody counted lap sponge and instrument under the operating table
Electrosurgical cautery pedal sitting in a puddle with a frayed cord coming out of pedal
Anesthesia – syringe hanging out of the intravenous tubing
Anesthesia – using trash can as a sharps container
Anesthesia – alcohol dispenser or bottle on the anesthesia machine dripping alcohol
Attire – nesthesia provider has short sleeve scrub top on, not a warm-up jacket
Staff member has his mask down and is blowing his nose
Attire – Circulator wearing artificial nails and texting
Wrapped instrument set sitting on a shelf has a tear in the wrap
Boom box on a shelf has very loud music coming out of it
Ventilator vent with dust bunnies adhered to it and falling off the vent

A cartoon was also created last year. View the 2008 What's wrong with this picture cartoon.

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