Safety Information

What to Expect:

Your surgeon, anesthesiologist, surgical nurse and other healthcare providers know there are certain steps that are important to take to make sure that you receive proper care. You should expect these steps to be taken:

Correct Patient, Correct Procedure, Correct Treatment, Correct Site

• Many of our staff will ask you your name and another identifying piece of information, such as your date of birth, as different people can have the same name.
• You will be given an armband for identification. You should verify that all of the information is correct.
• All of your healthcare providers should check your identification bracelet.
• For your safety, all of your healthcare providers should ask both the kind of surgery you are having and the exact location (on your body) where you will be treated.
• Your healthcare providers ask these questions to ensure that the information that you provide matches the information within their documents. If it does not, they will stop and get clarification to ensure that everyone (including you) is in agreement before proceeding.

When your healthcare providers ask you these questions, they are verifying for your safety.

Before you are taken to the operating or procedure room, the surgeon should place a mark very near the proper procedure location. If at any time you have any questions or concerns please SPEAK UP!

Prevention of Infection

For your safety and to help control the spread of infection, the facility temperature should be maintained below 73°F. We do not want you to be cold, so please let us know if you would like warming measures like a warm blanket.

Hand hygiene has been shown to be the most effective way to prevent the spread of infection. You should expect every healthcare provider to wash their hands or use hand foam before providing you with any care or performing any tests. If you do not see your healthcare provider perform proper hand hygiene or if you are unsure, please SPEAK UP!

Preventing Medication Errors

Before administering any medication to you, your healthcare provider should: ask you your name, ask for an additional identifier (such as your date of birth), ask you if you have any allergies and check your armband.

Your healthcare provider should tell you the name of the medication that you are receiving. Before you go home, you should be given a list of your medications and any new prescriptions that your doctor has written for you.

If you have any questions or concerns about your medications, please SPEAK UP!

Preventing Falls and for Your Safety:

• We will make sure that you are wearing nonslip foot coverings while you are awake.
• We will accompany you to the restroom and stay with you at all times.
• We will ensure that you have assistance getting dressed.
• We will require you to have assistance when getting in or out of bed.
• We will be discharging you in a wheelchair (as you will have been medicated).

If you need assistance at any time, please SPEAK UP!