Electrical Safety in the Perioperative Environment

Electrical-make sure you handle all wires and electrical equipment carefully to avoid your body coming in contact with high voltage

Surgical Technologists have an important role in the operation room (OR). There are different positions within the Surgical Technology field, including Scrub Surgical Technologist, Circulating Surgical Technologist, and Second Assisting Technologist. Scrub Surgical Technologists have a number of tasks, including prepping the patient for surgery, sterilizing the OR, gown and glove surgeons and assistants, and assists the surgeon and other surgical team members in a number of ways, such as passing instruments and dressing wounds. Circulating Surgical Technologists have a number of tasks as well, including checking patient’s charts, identifying patient and verifying the surgery that will be performed with consent forms, assisting anesthesia

Flames of evolution in patient care have been fanned into a wholesome revolution in the nature of nursing care due to the ever changing healthcare needs and demands of patients. This has led to a paradigm shift from generalized patient care to a patient centered approach. The increase in interaction and individualized patient management has improved healthcare delivery. However, on the flipside, this has not come with new challenges. Healthcare providers are increasingly being exposed to new health hazards as new and sophisticated treatment approaches are developed. Injuries due to sharps are of significance in nursing practice. The International Healthcare Workers Safety Center (2010) reports that an average of 27.97 per 100 licensed beds sharps injuries occurred in 2007 while in 2008 17.2 per 100 licensed beds sharps injuries were recorded. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010), 385,000 healthcare workers are injured due to sharps annually in the United States. This puts the healthcare personnel at risk of contracting infections such as Hepatitis C and B from contaminated objects. In regard to this concept, this paper will explore sharps safety at the clinical site with a view of using evidence based practice to creating awareness on the need for sharps safety in hospital settings.

Nightingale Community Hospital has been increasing their safety standards in all three general categories, Conduct a pre-procedure verification process, mark the procedure site and a time-out is performed before the procedure over the past year. Nightingale Community Hospital’s value for safety states: “We believe that excellence begins with providing safe environment. We put our patients first as we seek to exceed the expectations of our customers with superior service, outstanding clinical care and unsurpassed responsiveness.” To reach this goal there is always more that can be done. Based on the safety reports several areas need to be looked at:

Pressure ulcers are a serious health care problem and it is crucial to assess how patients acquire pressure areas after admission to the perioperative environment (Walton-Geer, 2009). In the operating room factors related to positioning, anaesthesia and the durations of surgeries along with individual patient related factors can all contribute to pressure ulcer development. This essay aims to review current standards of recommended practice regarding pressure ulcer prevention efforts for the surgical patient.

At least half a million deaths per year could be prevented with effective implementation of systemic improvements in operating rooms. Specifically, multiple studies have found implementing the use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist would significantly reduce surgical morbidity and mortality due to surgical errors.

The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority is a state agency founded by the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) on 2002. Moreover, the agency creates the greatest database system for patient safety which known as Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System PA-PSRS. The system was developed by contract with Pennsylvania-based independent, ECRI, in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a non-profit health services research agency, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), a Pennsylvania-based, non-profit health research organization and also a leading international information technology firm. Statewide compulsory for using PA-PSRS to report serious events in hospital, ambulatory surgical facilities and

The term “safety comes first” or more simply put, “safety first,” is a message that patients not only want to hear, but also want to know is the focus of the professionals that are caring for them; in particular, when they are under anesthesia and have limited or no ability to speak up or lookout for themselves. The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has implemented two initiatives; Rocognising and Responding Appropriately to Early Signs of Deterioration in Hospitalised Patients (NPSA, 2007) and How to Guide: Five Steps to Safer Surgery (NPSA, 2010). Understanding that human beings make up the healthcare professional workforce, it is evident that tools and checklist can and will only be as good as the how people utilize and follow

A hazard evaluation of the electro - surgery gear was embraced, and delayed presentation to unevacuated surgical smoke was distinguished . As per Marsh (2012), this represents a danger of sick wellbeing to those fundamentally uncovered .

Work place safety practices always involve knowing what kinds of kinds of hazards are in the work place. Hazards include short and long-term effects of waste anesthetic gas, the storage for compressed gas cylinders, and precautions of exposure to injectable anesthetic agents. A couple of hazards of waste inhalant anesthetic gas would be inhaling the gases from the vaporizer, a spill of the anesthetic liquid or the gas escaping the anesthetic machine during the time they are under anesthesia. For handling the compressed gases properly, the use and storage of the cylinders are critical. The cylinders need to be chained to the wall, they are required to be in an upright position, keep away from anything that is flammable, they need to be put away from areas in the clinic that are busy, and empty and full cylinders should be kept apart. Accidental exposure to the injectable agents is not a good thing and the precautions are important to know. The technician should be educated before about the use of potent opioids, the effects of them, as well as having a reversal agent ready for use. A technician should never work alone and should always wear gloves, a closed container for the needles as well as syringes, and lastly having a treatment plan if there is an

Patient safety is number one in hospitals. Every staff member that comes into contact with a patient should always have the question, “Will the patient be safe?” in the back of

Our specialist will discuss the process and risks during a consultation. Complications after the procedure are very rare. Endovenous laser treatment is safe and

It’s important that health and safety procedures are followed when using different types of equipment. The main focus is to keep a safe and hazardless environment for you and the people around you.

Another safety concern is protecting your eyes from the laser beam. Your dentist should always give you a pair of special glasses to wear during the procedure.

The OR is naturally a high risk environment, surgery naturally exposes staff to patient blood and body fluids, involves the handling of sharp instruments, and the close interactions of the surgical team within a limited amount of space (Jagger et al., 2011). Operations involve the types of sharps; trocars, some surgical instruments, saws, drills, reamers, and some suture needles and scalpel blades that may not easily be replaced with Safety Engineered Devices (SED’s) (Guest, Kable, & McLeod, 2010). The majority of sharps injuries within the OR result from handling sharps, such as needles, blades and sharp instruments hand-to-hand (Jagger et al., 2011).