Take 5: The Annual Report

Quick Safety, Issue 35: Minimizing noise and distractions in the OR and procedural units, discusses strategies you can use to reduce risk in your OR. Research has shown that noise and other distractions in the OR have an effect on the likelihood that a patient will be harmed. The more distractions, the more risks to patients – such as anesthesia errors, surgical site infections and incomplete safety checks.

The Joint Commission’s human factors engineer, Erin Lawler, MS, CPPS, discusses this important patient safety topic. [6:29]