Key result
A Lean Six Sigma intervention redesigning surgical case preparation resulted in a 55% decrease in overall nursing time spent gathering and preparing materials across 128 laparoscopic hernia cases.
Why the study?
Healthcare systems face increasing demand to use finite resources with greater efficiency, driving the need for process improvement methodologies like Lean Six Sigma to release nursing time to care.
Does a Lean Six Sigma intervention reduce nursing time spent in gathering and preparing materials for laparoscopic hernia surgical cases?
Does a Lean Six Sigma intervention reduce nursing time spent in gathering and preparing materials for laparoscopic hernia surgical cases?
Effect estimate: 55% decrease
A Lean Six Sigma intervention significantly reduced nursing preparation time for laparoscopic hernia surgeries, releasing time for patient care.
May free perioperative nursing time via Lean Six Sigma redesign; leaves open scalability in larger trials.
Healthcare systems internationally are working under increasing demand to use finite resources with greater efficiency. The drive for efficiency utilises process improvement methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma. This study outlines a pilot Lean Six Sigma intervention designed to release nursing time to care within a peri-operative environment; this was achieved by collaborating with stakeholders to redesign the process for laparoscopic hernia surgical case preparation (set up) material. Across 128 laparoscopic hernia surgical cases, the pilot resulted in a 55% decrease in overall nursing time spent in gathering and preparing materials for laparoscopic hernia surgical cases, with a corresponding reduction in packaging waste. The major impact of releasing nursing time to care within busy Operating Room environments enabled nurses to focus on continuing to deliver high-quality care to their patients and reduce pressure expressed by the Operating Room nurses. The results have led to an ongoing review of other surgical procedures preparation to further release nursing time and will be of interest to perioperative teams internationally.
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Egan et al. (2021) studied Laparoscopic hernia surgical cases (n=128). Lean Six Sigma intervention was evaluated on Overall nursing time spent in gathering and preparing materials (55% decrease). A Lean Six Sigma intervention redesigning surgical case preparation resulted in a 55% decrease in overall nursing time spent gathering and preparing materials across 128 laparoscopic hernia cases.
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