VACASE

As a part of our hospital-wide patient safety initiatives, we have created "Distraction-free zones". These are areas throughout the hospital where the staff member is performing a critical step and should not be interrupted during the process. Applying that to the Transfusion Service, we have placed those signs at all of the workstations where blood products are issued. (the signs are attached)
Theoretically, every process from testing to issue could be considered critical, but we decided that this is the one area where catching a mistake would be most crucial. Issuing the blood is the last place where an error could be found. Since this is a hospital-wide effort of which EVERY employee has been trained on, it has actually helped out. Staff will often stop and wait until the process is completed to begin talking.
Stephanie Townsend, MT(ASCP)SBB
07-08-10 DFZ Signage PROOF.pdf
Distraction Free Zone Blood Issue.ppt