Ideas That Work: Pre-Op Efficiency

Anxious patients waiting in pre-op bays don't want to see their surgeons wandering around looking for who they're going to be operating on next. To eliminate that possibility, we hang signs to direct surgeons to the right bed. It's quite simple. For privacy reasons, we don't write the patient's name on the signage. Instead, we came up with a code that only our staff and surgeons know, which is decoded in the photo caption to the left. Now, when surgeons enter the pre-op area, they look for their initials and the number of the next case of their day on a sign hanging in front of one of the pre-op bays. Surgeons love the system because they simply look up to find out where they're needed next. Our staff made signs for every surgeon, and the system has been working flawlessly.

Nikki Williams, RN, CNOR
Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center
[email protected]