Reducing Risk in the Operating Room

Tool kits designed to promote safety in the operating room (OR) were developed by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN, Denver, CO, USA) for distribution to more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals, to 13,000 AORN members who are managers or educators, and to AORN's 40,000 members in the United States and around the world.

Components of the kits include the Institute of Safe Medication Practices' list of error-prone abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations; AORN's guidance statement about safe medication practices, conversions and calculations, herbal/dietary supplement-drug interactions, and safe medication administration resources; and a medication-safety test. AORN members can view the Tool Kit at the association's website.

"Many medications look alike or sound alike, which presents too many potential dangers,” said Sharon McNamara, president, AORN. "As healthcare providers, it's our job to eliminate these dangers and do everything in our power to protect the patient. The Tool Kit is designed to not only make medical professionals more aware of possible pitfalls, but also more aware of what they can do to improve patient safety.”

AORN inaugurated U.S. National Time Out Day last year to encourage healthcare professionals to take a "time out” before surgery and review a checklist ensuring patient safety procedures are being followed. This year AORN is encouraging chapters to conduct activities to make sure their facilities are labeling medications.

"Labeling all medications and solutions in the operating room is a fundamental step in making surgical care safer,” noted Dennis S. O'Leary, M.D., whose organization, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, will require hospitals and other facilities in which surgical and other invasive procedures are performed to label all medications, medication containers, and other solutions on and off the sterile field.




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