In 2004, the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and The Joint Commission created National Time Out Day to help surgical teams remember the vital importance of taking a Time Out. Together and through pre-surgery safety checklists, a renewed commitment to reducing risk and preventing wrong-site surgery has emerged.
According to The Periop Life blog post, from AORN CEO, Linda Groah, “Unfortunately, 15 years later, wrong-site surgery still ranks in the top three most frequently reported adverse patient events, despite the fact that these adverse patient events are 100% preventable.”
What are we doing to help drive change and create better results?
At New Compliance we are vigilant, passionate and committed to developing real-time, actionable solutions that drive results. With our OR Cockpit we support the caregiver with predictive dashboarding & analytics solutions for e.g. Surgery, Emergency, and Intensive Care departments, all through one central system which is easily operated through large wall-mounted touchscreen displays. Before any operation starts the surgical team needs to fill in the Time Out checklist together, using these touchscreen displays, to prevent wrong-site surgery or other mistakes. During these operations, the OR Cockpit continuously scans all patient safety conditions and risk factors and provides the team with real-time feedback. Furthermore, it optimizes OR productivity, minimizes surgical site infections (SSI’s), reduces material costs and provides unprecedented analytics & reports by integrating data from any source system and equipment (EMR, BMS & other OR equipment). Optional modules include resource planning, bed logistics, and patient engagement solutions.
How can we universally protect patients from wrong site surgery? Checklists?
LuAnn Vis, RN, BSN, MSOD, associate director of High-Reliability Initiatives within the Joint Commission’s Center for Transforming Healthcare recommends five important ways to reduce the risks. OR Cockpit maximizes the team’s action for these 5 steps and enhances and connects the team and patient collaboration for wrong-site surgery. Provided by the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AORN).
- Understand where wrong-site-surgery risks lurk in your perioperative setting.
Use standardized tools such as our Safe Surgery Targeted Solutions Tool to identify and respond to the risks in your system.
- Make your patient part of the Time Out.
- Give every team member an active role in the Time Out.
Use a template such as AORN’s Comprehensive Surgical Checklist to assign each surgical team member a voice in the Time Out process.
- Track your Time Out successes and improvement areas.
Audit your Time Outs for accuracy, effectiveness and complete team participation to help identify improvements that can be shared, discussed and implemented.
- Build a speak-up culture.
Staff members need quick response from colleagues and leadership to any concerns they voice. This instills trust and confidence in the organization and a sense of responsibility to be vigilant and voice concerns.
When it comes to ensuring safe surgery together, it takes a tribe, a vigilant team of perioperative professionals who are willing to speak up and recognize the value of safety tools such as Time Out Checklists and tailored solutions designed in OR Cockpit.
