The dangers of surgical smoke and how AORN aims to Go Clear™ in the OR

Updates to New Team Communication Guideline

Clear Communication for Better Care: A Guide to Team Dynamics in the OR

For perioperative nurses, effective teamwork is crucial for patient safety.

Building a Culture of Safety

A strong foundation for good communication is a culture of safety. This means every team member feels empowered to speak up about concerns and errors without fear of blame. Here's how to foster this culture:

• Open Communication: Encourage honest and respectful communication.
• Error Reporting: Make it safe to report errors and near misses so the team can learn and improve.
• Shared Goals: Establish clear patient safety goals and hold everyone accountable.
• Teamwork: Promote a collaborative and supportive environment.

Streamlining Communication Processes

Structured communication processes minimize misunderstandings and ensure all team members are on the same page. Here are some key practices:

• Standardized Hand-offs: Use a clear and consistent method for transferring patient care between team members and departments.
• Team Briefings: Conduct pre-surgical briefings to discuss the procedure, patient information, and any potential concerns.
• Site Marking: Clearly mark the surgical site before the procedure to avoid errors.
• Time-Outs: Pause before every surgery to verify the correct patient, site, and procedure.
• Surgical Safety Checklists: Use a standardized checklist to ensure all critical steps are completed during surgery.
• Debriefings: Conduct a structured debriefing after surgery to discuss the case and identify areas for improvement.

Education is Key

Ongoing education is essential for maintaining effective communication skills. This includes training on:

• Teamwork and Communication Techniques
• Use of Surgical Safety Checklists
• Strategies for a Culture of Safety

By implementing these practices, perioperative nurses can significantly enhance communication within the OR, leading to better patient outcomes and a stronger team dynamic.

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4 ways nurses can reverse toxicity in their daily work culture

Still in crisis mode from the pandemic and its aftermath, many nurses are feeling tired and somewhat disgruntled, and may be looking for greener pastures.

However, the journey toward “greener grass” can begin without hopping the fence, suggests Jill Graham, BSN, RN.

As a surgical services co-educator (and her team’s unofficial counselor and mediator), Graham made it her mission to foster a less toxic culture in nursing, starting with her own practice.

She realized that “culture healing will not happen until we as individuals choose something different and commit to making a difference in our little bubble of culture.”

She gave us four excellent ways nurses can make basic changes in mindset that can ignite and spread a culture of healing.

1. Don’t Add to Negativity

Repeatedly bringing up a colleague's mistake doesn't make anyone feel good. When you choose not to dwell on a colleague's mistake, you are respecting their humanity. If there is a conversation that needs to happen to process an event, go privately to a trusted coworker, but be careful not to let it degenerate into a bashing session. Instead, focus on finding solutions.

1. Shut Down the Racetrack

We often let our mistakes play over and over in our head or engage in the same disheartening interactions with coworkers. Make a conscious choice to stop dwelling on it. To do this, acknowledge how the situation makes you feel, determine to have a conversation (if needed), and then move on. Ultimately, avoid defining your coworkers, or yourself, by their mistakes.

1. Recognize Things Aren’t All Bad

Culture only begins to heal when we objectively see the truth of what is happening. Even on a 'bad' day, there are many things to be grateful for: coworkers, camaraderie, positive patient outcomes, your abilities, and technology, among others. When you frame your day differently, you genuinely start to feel better and lighter.

1. Just Smile

Research shows that simply smiling can bring your mood up as well as those around you. It may feel fake (especially behind a mask), but there is always something to smile about. The more you focus on being the positive change agent, the more you will see positivity.

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High-Level Disinfection Guideline Update

In this episode of Periop Talk AORN gives a sneak preview into the new High-Level Disinfection Guideline and how these key changes will impact your daily practice. Perioperative nurses play a vital role in the disinfection process:

• Enhanced communication: Ensuring seamless handoff of devices to decontamination with details about pre-treatment and device condition.
• Verification before disinfection: Introducing a crucial step - cleaning verification testing with magnification and the use of borescopes for a deeper look.
• The importance of drying: We'll explore new research highlighting the importance of thorough drying for all lumens of instruments and scopes before storage.

Perioperative nurses are key players in upholding aseptic technique and ensuring patient safety throughout the surgical journey. Their role in high-level disinfection contributes significantly to preventing infections and promoting positive patient outcomes.

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Beginning again: Lessons in transitioning from expert to novice nurse

The opportunity to start fresh in a different department is a gift. Once you are there, take advantage of everything and everyone. Staff are designated to help teach you the art and science of their practice, so be physically, mentally, and emotionally present to absorb every bit of it. Understand that there are many ways to accomplish the same task and be open to a new way. Keep the best of what you learn and add it to your toolbox. Start to build your own practice with the help of others. Remember that every unit is full of various personalities and styles. They each contribute to the uniqueness of the department and should enhance, rather than inhibit, your growth. Sidebar 1 provides tips for transitioning from an expert to a novice nurse.

New Environment of Care Guidelines for 2024

This updated Guideline for Safe Environment of Care provides new and revised recommendations on developing fire safety plans, performing fire risk assessments, fire safety training, establishing latex safety programs and chemical safety plans, among others. The purpose of this guideline is to maintain a safe environment of care for perioperative patients and personnel and prevent injuries or harm by mitigating the risks associated with all the topics covered within this guideline. This episode of Periop Talk features guideline author Renae Wright, perioperative practice specialist at AORN, and Lisa Spruce, sr. director of evidence based perioperative practice at AORN.
Get the 2024 Guideline book: AORN | Order 2024 Guidelines for Perioperative Practice
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