Jump to content

Patient Identification at bedside in Surgery


Jody

Recommended Posts

I had an employee ask a thought provoking question about proper patient patient identification prior to transfusion in the surgical suites. As stated in her scenario, sometimes the patient identifcation armband is obscured from view due to drapes/arm placement or removed due to the medical intervention.

I think our current policy states handles the situation pretty well but I would like to hear how others address this situaton.

THANKS!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before starting surgery the surgical team completes a "time out" procedure which irrevocably identifies the patient. Before starting transfusion the anesthetist will check the blood issue label against thte preprinted addressograph label of the patient from the file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surgery checks the armband. I've been told that in some types of cases where the wrist/ankle is not accessible that the patient's hospital band is cut off in surgery after the pre-procedure patient ID is completed and taped to the patient's chest or forehead until the case is complete. The band is replaced on the wrist/ankle prior to moving the patient to recovery. We are also using the Final Check blood lock system. When the surgery team is doing the ID check in the OR prior to the start of the procedure, anesthesia will take one of the lock code stickers from the patient's Final Check armband (or ankle band) and place it on the patient anesthesia record. Once they complete the hospital ID band check they then use that sticker to open the lock to get into the bag holding the blood products. The blood bank band is not cut. The sticker on the anesthesia record idea is what Northwestern in Chicago uses. 

Edited by AMcCord
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Advertisement

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.