MDH Surgical Services is Dedicated to Patient Safety

McDonough District Hospital Surgical Services will celebrate “National Time Out Day” on June 17, 2009.

A time out in the operating room (OR) is an important part of delivering safe patient care. Just like a sports event where a time out stops the activity of the game, the time out in the OR halts all activity before the procedure begins.

The purpose of the time out is for directing all attention to communicating and confirming the correct patient, the correct procedure, and the correct site. All members of the OR team, including the surgeon, anesthetist, nurse, and the scrub tech, participate in the communication and give full attention to the time out. All members are in agreement concerning the correct patient, correct procedure to be performed, and the correct site of the procedure. The procedure starts after the time out.

In 2004 The Joint Commission established the “time out” as a method to promote patient safety in the OR. The long standing practice of performing time out in the OR is just one of many patient safety measures employed at MDH.

The MDH Surgical Services Department is proud to recognize our participation in such an important patient safety measure. We celebrate “National Time Out Day” as a reminder of our commitment to excellence.

Every Day is Time Out Day.

Linda Sampson RN, MSN, CNOR, Director of MDH Surgical Services