Workplace Safety Equals Patient Safety

TABLE TALK Workplace Safety Equals Patient SafetyF or many years, AORN has been a leader in creating a safe environment for the patient in the OR and other procedural areas.Perioperative nurses provide care that adheres to the AORN standards and recommended practices.AORN provides orientation tools like Periop 101: A Core Curriculum TM .Collaborations among AORN staff members, member volunteers, and representatives of other organizations have resulted in tool kits to address safety factors such as surgical briefings, time out, and debriefings.I believe that workplace safety is an integral part of patient safety.There are many pieces to creating a safe work environment, and much work has been done by AORN in cooperation with experts in various fields and health care organizations.Therefore, I have asked my colleagues to discuss a variety of topics related to workplace safety, including fire safety, sharps safety, safe patient handling, and smoke in the OR environment.I have also solicited general discussions on workplace safety in the OR and the sterile processing department and on workplace safety issues from AORN's perspective.I posed the following question:From your professional perspective, what work related to workplace safety have we done, and what has been its impact on the surgical team?