Ideas That Work: Warning: Fast-Track Admission in Progress

Palo Alto Medical Foundation Surgery Center Fremont (Calif.) has devised an effective solution for addressing situations when surgeons are a bit too eager to get to the next case. At the center, patients are asked to arrive earlier than their original arrival time to “fast-track” their admissions process. However, when previous cases were canceled or went more quickly than expected, the surgeon, anesthesiologist and circulating nurse would sometimes arrive while the admissions nurse was fast-tracking a patient. Their arrival would distract the nurse and patient, which led to repeat explanations and delays in completing the admissions process. The solution was to create a “Do Not Disturb” sign, which is stuck to the door of the private pre-op room and alerts the OR team that a fast-track is in progress. “They now know not to interrupt while the process is ongoing,” says Dory Ocampo, RN, MSN, pre-op and endoscopy manager at the center. “This gives the nurse and the patient their one-on-one time. The nurse is able to focus and proceed with the intake and the patient can give them their full attention.”