Gain Knowledge, Get Involved, and Become a Smoke Safety Champion in Your Facility 

When working in the operating room the surgical team is exposed to surgical smoke every day from several different devices such as an electrosurgical unit, lasers, and high-speed power systems. It has been known since 1988 about the hazards of surgical smoke when a “Hazard Information Bulletin” was first issued from OSHA and NIOSH. There are currently no national regulations that exist to require smoke safety in the operating room, therefore there is a need for legislation state by state to inform health care professionals about the hazards of surgical smoke for the protection of the surgical team and patients.

It is important to be an advocate for surgical smoke evacuation in your facility by gaining knowledge, getting involved, and becoming a smoke safety champion. This program will discuss the current legislative status for surgical smoke safety in the U.S. and the importance of being an advocate for smoke evacuation. There will be a review of the steps for getting prepared for legislation and implementing smoke evacuation in your facility. Also, a review of the AORN hierarchy of evidence and recommendations in the guideline for surgical smoke safety.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Discuss the need for smoke evacuation legislation.
  2. Review the updates to the legislative status for surgical smoke safety in the operating room.
  3. Describe steps for getting prepared for smoke evacuation legislation to go into effect in your state.
  4. Discuss AORN’s Surgical Smoke Safety Guidelines.

Continuing Education Accreditation:

California Board of Registered Nursing, 1.0 contact hours.

Meet the Speaker

Erin Kyle, DNP, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC

Editor in Chief, Guidelines for Perioperative Practice

Dr. Erin Kyle is the Editor-in-Chief of the Guidelines for Perioperative Practice at AORN where she works closely with the Nursing Practice team and the Guidelines Advisory Board in developing and updating AORN's 35 evidence-based guidelines. Before leaving her role as a regional director of perioperative services for a large US health system in the Midwest and joining AORN in 2017, Dr. Kyle worked as a perioperative RN in the hospital setting for over 16 years. Dr. Kyle served as lead author of three AORN Guidelines – Sterilization, Instrument Care and Cleaning, and Packaging for Sterilization and now authors the AORN Journal Back to Basics 2.0 column. She serves as staff liaison to AAMI and is active in national and international standards development with AAMI on 16 sterilization standards committees including serving as co-chair of the working group responsible for the update and publication of the new standard on water quality for medical device processing, ST108. She is passionate about perioperative patient safety and seeks to develop and promote evidence-based practices that bolster optimal outcomes and protect patients and perioperative teams from harm.


Sponsored by:

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