• Versatile mobility. Stretcher chairs are near-essential pieces of equipment. Patients sidle into a chair in pre-op and remain on the same surface until they’re ready for discharge, a factor that adds to their comfort level
and allows staff to move them through each phase of care as efficiently as possible. The chairs also eliminate the risks associated with lateral transfers for patients and staff.
Hooking patients up to vital signs monitors that remain attached to stretcher chairs eliminates the time-consuming process of removing and reattaching the leads several times at each phase of care. Using wrist clips instead of sticky pads
to hook patients up to the monitors allows staff to make the connection more quickly and prevents them having to rip the pads off patients’ skin after surgery.
Stretcher chairs are motorized — ours feature a fifth wheel that drops down from the center of the base to help drive it forward — which allows a single nurse to maneuver a chair using push-button controls on its handles. That’s
a big plus for the allocation of staffing resources from an efficiency standpoint. The height and articulation of the surface of the chairs can be adjusted with the push of a button, so a nurse can transition the patient from sitting in
pre-op to supine in the OR and back to sitting in recovery. Additionally, the chairs can be programmed to five preset positions, meaning staff can reposition patients quickly and easily.
After a chair has been reclined into the flat position and patients are wheeled into the OR, I can use controls near the head of the chair or remote foot pedals to finetune the position of the headrest and articulate the height of the bed.
This lets me make micro-adjustments to how the patient is positioned under the surgical microscope.
• Multi-layered safety. Establishing a series of checks to ensure surgeons operate on the correct eye is, most importantly, an essential element of patient safety. A well thought out and effective process also lets staff and surgeons
run through the series of steps in an engaged and efficient manner.
Have front desk workers verify the type of lens and the eye to be operated on with patients when they check in for surgery. Pre-op staff should confirm the same information as patients sign consent forms. Initiate an immediate hard stop when
questions arise and clear up any confusion by reviewing notes made on the consent form, surgical schedule and patient’s chart.
Place the patient’s identification band and a nametag on their wrist and shirt on the same side of the eye that will be operated on. Both forms of ID help staff members quickly confirm the patient’s name and correct eye at each
stage of care.
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