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Timeouts need to include the entire surgical team

Quality Improvement Monitor, October 31, 2008

Hospitals that want to comply with The Joint Commission’s new Universal Protocol™ expectations beginning January 2009 should ensure that their surgeons mark the surgical site and the entire surgical team commits fully to the timeout.

“When surveyors are in the operating room for tracer activities, they are looking to see team involvement and recognition when timeouts are done,” says Clint Chain, RN, quality manager at United Surgical Partners International, a Texas-based company that manages surgery centers nationwide.

Hospitals sometimes get cited by surveyors if the circulator or the technician doesn’t stop what he or she is working on to take part in the timeout. “They even want to see the anesthesia provider behind the drapes pop their head out,” Chain says.

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