We keep an emergency flip chart at the front desk of our ASC that’s filled with easy-to-follow emergency response protocols. We also conduct true-to-life safety drills to make sure our staff is ready for nearly any situation...

Our hospital used to have an issue with surgical team members wearing scrubs out of the facility, washing them at home and wearing them back to work, habits that went against proper laundering protocols and prevented us...

We’ve heard some wonderful stories about facilities that repurposed blue wrap to make sleeping mats and blankets for the homeless, and wanted to do something similar. Our blue wrap was too small to repurpose in that capacity,...

AORN guidelines stipulate that hair should be clipped around surgical sites to reduce the risk of infection. To make sure pre-op staff properly clip the right areas, we filled a binder with procedure-specific pages that indicate...

During appointments in our eye clinic, staff document the music preferences of patients in their charts. On the day of surgery, pre-op nurses refer to the charts — or ask patients about their favorite artists and songs...

We place ID and allergy bands on the ankles of cataract patients to improve our visualization of the vital information during safety time outs. Instead of pulling back covers and drapes to locate the bands on patients' wrists,...

At my former hospital, a patient expressed concern about sticker residue on the outside of the plastic binder that held their paper chart and wondered aloud about the overall cleanliness of the facility. A nurse quickly attempted...

I love to color, and have taken up the hobby to relieve stress. I'm also a tactile and kinesthetic learner — someone who needs movement and hands-on training while learning. Research shows coloring reduces anxiety...

WIn the midst of the pandemic, we looked for a way to safely maximize the number of staff members who could hang out together during breaks and lunch. We found portable sneeze guards on Amazon — they cost less...

After our state halted elective procedures last spring, returning to surgery and assuring our patients that the center functioned in the safest possible manner took a lot of planning — and no small amount of innovation...

The coronavirus has forced us to change how we present ongoing education for our medical center's 120 perioperative team members. Monthly staff education at our hospital used to occur in a large conference room...

It's important to keep everyone on your staff engaged and connected, and fun group activities can help create a sense of community among the team. Try inviting members of your perioperative department to submit unique...

Our "Above and Beyond" program allows staff members to nominate their colleagues for recognition whenever they are seen upholding our facility's core values, which include always putting the patient first, being inclusive,...

Discharge can be a confusing time for patients and their family members. The after-effects of anesthesia cause some amnesia, and the information and directives about post-op care are given when family members might be...

We created a custom handoff form that's placed on top of each patient's chart to keep staff abreast of pertinent information that's not typically part of their medical record. In addition to noting case start and stop times...

Every January, managers from the OR, anesthesia and central sterile gather to review our hospitals' policies and procedures in order to make needed changes. Because representatives from many different disciplines...

It can be challenging to connect with patients or family members who have hearing or vision impairment, or have limited English proficiency, especially if staff don't have the auxiliary aides necessary to communicate effectively....

We have a multi-step protocol to complete for each knee, hip and shoulder replacement patient before the day of surgery. This protocol includes making pre-op calls to conduct a health assessment, an in-person visit...

Staff who need to call a code blue during an emergent situation sometimes hesitate to ask for help. In our hospital, nurses are educated and encouraged to call a code as soon as the need arises. An educational program...

Reprocessing techs in our hospital who prepare instrument sets for sterilization use a seven-point checklist to ensure trays have been properly assembled. The checklist helps techs ensure instrument sets are loaded properly,...