COLOR SCHEME It's easier to find a chart when you know what color you're looking for.

BETTER ORGANIZATION
Color-Coded Charts Save Time

If you've yet to go paperless, color-code your patient charts by specialty and you'll spend less time trying to locate the one you're looking for. We came upon this idea quite by accident. The charts we happened to buy came in 5 colors. That gave us the idea to assign each specialty a color. Our pre-anesthesia testing department uses blue for orthopedic, podiatry and spine cases; yellow for general surgery; green for gynecological and neurological; and so on. It makes it that much easier to locate a specific chart as it flows through the pre-admission testing process. It's also a good way to see at a glance that assignments are well-balanced among nurses. When the charts get divided up in the morning, everybody should have roughly the same color combination.

Leneya DeMatthew, BS, RN
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare
Racine, Wis.
[email protected]