ORNAC journal
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A structured approach to communication between health care professionals contains introduction/identification; situation; background; assessment and request/recommendation (ISBAR). ISBAR was introduced into the post anaesthetic care unit (PACU) of a large Victorian health service in 2013. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of an education program on ISBAR compliance.
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UNDERSTANDING OR NURSES' REACTIONS TO ERRORS AND USING THIS UNDERSTANDING TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY.
The operating room can be home to many different types of nursing errors due to the invasiveness of OR procedures. The nurses' reactions towards errors can be a key factor in patient safety. This article is based on a study, with the aim of investigating nurses' reactions toward nursing errors and the various contributing and resulting factors, conducted at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in Sanandaj, Iran in 2014. ⋯ The information was gathered through questionnaires that focused on demographic information, error definition, reasons for error occurrence, and emotional reactions for error occurrence, and emotional reactions toward the errors. 153 questionnaires were completed and analyzed by SPSS software version 16.0. "Not following sterile technique" (82.4 percent) was the most reported nursing error, "tiredness" (92.8 percent) was the most reported reason for the error occurrence, "being upset at having harmed the patient" (85.6 percent) was the most reported emotional reaction after error occurrence", with "decision making for a better approach to tasks the next time" (97.7 percent) as the most common goal and "paying more attention to details" (98 percent) was the most reported planned strategy for future improved outcomes. While healthcare facilities are focused on planning for the prevention and elimination of errors it was shown that nurses can also benefit from support after error occurrence. Their reactions, and coping strategies, need guidance and, with both individual and organizational support, can be a factor in improving patient safety.
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Providing rapid response is a primary goal when caring for surgical patients with injuries involving massive blood loss. Massive transfusion protocols have been developed in some tertiary care health care facilities to ensure a rapid and efficient response in the provision of care to patients with a massive and uncontrolled hemorrhage. The purpose of this article is to discuss a massive transfusion protocol and to describe the process used to implement a massive transfusion protocol at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre (the site) as well as to describe its impact in the operating room department.
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Safe and effective patient preoperative skin antisepsis is recommended to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs), reduce patient morbidity, and reduce systemic costs. However, there is lack of consensus among best practice recommendations regarding the optimal skin antiseptic solution and method of application. ⋯ Using the best available evidence it was recommended that AHS standardize surgical skin antisepsis to 2% CHG in 70% alcohol as the preferred antiseptic and povidone iodine, as an alternative when CHG is contraindicated, to reduce SSIs, practice variation, and health care costs. Further research is required to determine the optimal skin antiseptic solution to reduce SSIs.
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This article describes the nontechnical skill set, and behavioural rating tool, for scrub practitioners/nurses (e.g. perioperative registered nurses; operating room technicians) known as the Scrub Practitioners' List of Intraoperative NonTechnical Skills or the SPLINTS system. The SPLINTS system was developed at the Industrial Psychology Research Centre of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, by a research team comprising psychologists, scrub nurses, and a surgeon. Details of the system were presented, by Rhona Flin, at the ORNAC National and International Conference with IFPN, in Ottawa, in April of 2013. This article outlines the background of the research project and the method used to develop the SPLINTS system and suggests why it might be a valuable training and assessment tool for scrub practitioners in Canada.