LAKEPORT, Calif. – June 12th marks National Time Out Day, a day sponsored by the Association of Operative Registered Nurses, or AORN, to raise awareness about the nine elements of safe surgery and procedure culture.

This year Sutter Lakeside is raising procedural team awareness by practicing “time outs.”

The nine elements of the acronym SUPER HERO encourage procedural nurses, doctors, techs and anyone else present in the room to speak up for patient safety by:

– Supporting a safety culture.
– Using the Sutter Health (Joint Commission’s, AORN’s, World Health Organization) Universal Protocol surgical checklist.
– Proactively reducing risk in the operating rooms/procedural rooms.
– Effecting change.
– Reducing harm.
– Having honest discussions about hazards.
– Empowering others to speak up.
– Respecting surgical/procedural teammates.
– Openly seeking opportunities to improve patient safety.

A time out refers to the surgery or procedural team pausing, stopping all activity in the room, and ensuring that they have the correct patient for the correct procedure, and the correct equipment, supplies or implants.

“We celebrate National Time Out Day by dressing like super heroes and wearing our capes to start conversations with both staff and patients as a fun way to raise awareness about the importance of taking a time out,” said Diana Iniguez, RN, director of Surgery, Family Birth Center, and Respiratory Therapy.

“More importantly, it’s about providing the highest quality, safest care for our patients by pausing, stopping all activity in the room, and making absolutely sure that we’re setting our team and our patients up for the best possible outcomes,” said Iniguez. “National Time Out Day perfectly complements Sutter’s safety culture, which empowers any member of the team to speak up for patient safety using Sutter Safe Care tools.”

Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s procedural teams include the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Med/Surg, Outpatient Care Services, Family Birth Center, Outpatient Care Services, Respiratory Therapy, Medical Imaging, Gastrointestinal Lab, Surgery, and the hospital’s two clinics, Sutter Lakeside Community Clinic and Sutter Lakeside Medical Practice.