Recently, we in Infection Control were tasked with a dispute that was escalating between a specific surgeon and the Operating Rooms Clinical Manager.
The dispute was of a tiny issue, no larger than the human head…surgical scrub caps. This issue has been going on for years but has progressed recently in light of the accreditation body known as The Joint Commission, cracking down on surgical attire adherences.
The issue at hand is not only confusion over a policy and lack of previous enforcement, but also a personality clash among the clinical manager, Kathie and a surgeon, Dr. Licata.
The standard rule established by The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) is that the hair should be covered regardless of which hair covering …show more content…
This is a direct violation to an established and approved policy and poses a quantifiable risk to our patients in an operating room setting. As far as allowing the use of skull caps vs a bouffant style cap, we must abide by the standard that no hair can be visible per AORN standards. (Nurses, 2017) And with a skull cap, home laundered or not, hair is visible at the nape of the neck and side burns. Therefore, no surgical skull caps can be used in an operative arena.
From Kathie’s point of view, she must abide by the policies and procedures set forth by Infection control and governing bodies to ensure a safe surgical environment for all patients to the best of her ability. Kathie is very by-the-book, there is no deviation under her tutelage. So, tension often arises with an unyielding surgeon or staff member when she feels as though patient safety is at risk. For Kathie, the surgeon’s happiness, although important, is second to safety of the patient. Kathie also has a viewpoint that the surgeons are coddled and babied by administration due to the large amount of profits they bring in to the organization, administration is hesitant to upset the bread-winner. In her opinion, if there is an established guideline that could protect our patients, follow it, regardless if you like it or not or how much money you bring to the …show more content…
Licata’s point of view, he wants the science and research behind why no hair can be visible. For him, the cloth skull caps are a signature trade mark and a source of comfort for him. He even identifies the skull caps as being masculine, while the bouffant style is preferred by women. He also argued that if he is uncomfortable and out of his routine, that this too could place patients at risk for an adverse outcome and could cause monetary loss if a surgery ends badly due to surgical error because of his inattention to the matter at hand. Dr. Licata provided many articles that argued there was no evidence that surgical attire, skull cap or bouffant, home laundered or hospital laundered had any increase risk of surgical site infection post-op. However, these articles were widely written by other surgeons who shared in his opinion and dislike of bouffant hats. These articles were not the case studies he needed to prove without a doubt that he was causing no harm by continuing to wear his home laundered, surgical skull
The dispute was of a tiny issue, no larger than the human head…surgical scrub caps. This issue has been going on for years but has progressed recently in light of the accreditation body known as The Joint Commission, cracking down on surgical attire adherences.
The issue at hand is not only confusion over a policy and lack of previous enforcement, but also a personality clash among the clinical manager, Kathie and a surgeon, Dr. Licata.
The standard rule established by The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) is that the hair should be covered regardless of which hair covering …show more content…
This is a direct violation to an established and approved policy and poses a quantifiable risk to our patients in an operating room setting. As far as allowing the use of skull caps vs a bouffant style cap, we must abide by the standard that no hair can be visible per AORN standards. (Nurses, 2017) And with a skull cap, home laundered or not, hair is visible at the nape of the neck and side burns. Therefore, no surgical skull caps can be used in an operative arena.
From Kathie’s point of view, she must abide by the policies and procedures set forth by Infection control and governing bodies to ensure a safe surgical environment for all patients to the best of her ability. Kathie is very by-the-book, there is no deviation under her tutelage. So, tension often arises with an unyielding surgeon or staff member when she feels as though patient safety is at risk. For Kathie, the surgeon’s happiness, although important, is second to safety of the patient. Kathie also has a viewpoint that the surgeons are coddled and babied by administration due to the large amount of profits they bring in to the organization, administration is hesitant to upset the bread-winner. In her opinion, if there is an established guideline that could protect our patients, follow it, regardless if you like it or not or how much money you bring to the …show more content…
Licata’s point of view, he wants the science and research behind why no hair can be visible. For him, the cloth skull caps are a signature trade mark and a source of comfort for him. He even identifies the skull caps as being masculine, while the bouffant style is preferred by women. He also argued that if he is uncomfortable and out of his routine, that this too could place patients at risk for an adverse outcome and could cause monetary loss if a surgery ends badly due to surgical error because of his inattention to the matter at hand. Dr. Licata provided many articles that argued there was no evidence that surgical attire, skull cap or bouffant, home laundered or hospital laundered had any increase risk of surgical site infection post-op. However, these articles were widely written by other surgeons who shared in his opinion and dislike of bouffant hats. These articles were not the case studies he needed to prove without a doubt that he was causing no harm by continuing to wear his home laundered, surgical skull