It's not unusual for the OR team at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, N.C., to work off a little physical and emotional stress by doing some crunches, lunges and squats right at the bedside. A team led by OR staff nurse Jackie Monahan, BSN, RN, CNOR, developed a series of stretching and toning exercises that scrubbed-in staff wearing sterile attire can perform in the OR without contaminating the field. The intent is to promote stress reduction in the most stressful of places: the OR.

"These exercises take into consideration the physical restrictions of the surgical environment and would benefit both staff working long cases as well as those working quick-paced cases with rapid turnovers," says Ms. Monahan. "Depending on the case, breaks may be limited. These exercises are good ways for staff to release stress."

WakeMed's marketing department created an 11" x 15" laminated poster and hung one in each operating room and near some scrub sinks adjacent to the ORs. Just like the photos you see here, the poster features color pictures of each exercise demonstrated by personnel wearing scrub attire at a sterile field.