RANSON, W.Va. - The operating room staff at Jefferson Memorial Hospital recently participated in the launch of a national year-round campaign to influence patient safety practices in the OR. National Time Out Day, held June 16, was the official kick-off to a national Time Out Commitment campaign designed to create an awareness of the importance of taking a time out for every patient before starting a surgical procedure.
“Time out allows the entire surgical team an opportunity to verify the correct person, procedure, and site before beginning surgery,” stated Martha Mumaw, RN, operating room director at Jefferson Memorial Hospital. Wrong site surgery still remains the most common sentinel event reported by The Joint Commission despite efforts to address the issue.
This national campaign to reduce surgical errors and the annual National Time Out Day is sponsored by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). The AORN expects the Time Out Commitment campaign to reduce the risk of surgical errors in thousands of hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers across the United State.
(1st row) Lynn Hypes, Mitra Shadrokh, Tecca Snow; (2nd row); Bea Pennington, Joanne Davenport, Tena Mills, Victoria Gise.