Surgical Safety Procedures

Safety First in Our Operating Rooms

Taking Charge of Your Care

We believe you play a vital role in making your surgical procedure safe by becoming an active, involved and informed member of your healthcare team. Your safety and peace of mind are important to us. That’s why we’d like to familiarize you with the steps we take to ensure that the correct surgery or procedure is performed on the correct patient on the correct site. Our nursing team is happy to talk to you or your family about this program and answer any questions or concerns prior to your surgery/procedure.

Here’s How it Works

We follow a detailed process, a protocol created by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), to ensure your safety:

• Prior to your surgery, you will be asked to sign an informed consent form, which verifies that you and your physician have discussed and that you understand the surgery/procedure that is to be performed.
• Next, you will be asked to mark the location of your procedure on your body. This is called site marking. For instance, if you are having surgery on your left leg, you’ll use a marking pen to write “yes” on your left leg.
• Your physician then will reconfirm the procedure site with you by placing his or her initials by your marking.
• And finally, your physician and surgical/ procedure team will take a “time out” just before your surgery begins. During this time out, the members of your healthcare team validate that they are performing the correct procedure on the appropriate site.

Neccessary Steps for Safety and Protection

If this seems a little time consuming or redundant, please bear with us. Each of these steps plays a crucial role in your safety and protection. Ongoing and complete communication between you and all members of your healthcare team help reinforce our commitment to your well being.

This initiative, along with National Time Out Day, is endorsed by the Colorado Health and Hospital Association (CHA) and the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). Colorado hospitals and professionals are at the forefront of these important safety efforts.