GREEN MEANS KNOW Patients under special infection precautions wear green bouffant hats.

Safety Signal
Color-Coded Caps Communicate Caution

Here's a simple way to identify patients who require contact precautions or contact-plus precautions. Fit them with a green bouffant instead of a light blue one in pre-op. This easy-to-distinguish visual cue quickly identifies the need for verbal clarification, isolation, gowning and gloving, or other precautions before the staff member begins treatment, keeping patients and staff safe from cross-contamination risks. We're pretty good about communicating special infection prevention precautions, but despite our best efforts, not every staff member who encounters the patient in the OR or PACU has access to the chart or gets a verbal report detailing those precautions.

Terry Anderson, RN, BSN, and Penny Baird, RN, BSN
University of Utah Health Care
Salt Lake City, Utah
[email protected]