Citation

Kneisley M. AORN J. 2024; 119(5): 340-347.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1002/aorn.14125

PMID

38661433

Abstract

Creating a safe environment for performing surgical procedures is essential to achieve successful patient outcomes and protect the perioperative personnel who are providing care. Numerous factors challenge the provision of a safe environment of care and create a complex setting for perioperative nurses to manage. The updated AORN "Guideline for a safe environment of care" provides perioperative nurses with recommendations for establishing a safe environment for both patients and personnel. This article provides an overview of the guideline and discusses recommendations for implementing fire safety protocols, using warming cabinets, and creating a latex-safe environment. It also includes a scenario describing the care of a patient with an unidentified latex allergy who is undergoing a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and hiatal hernia repair. Perioperative nurses should review the guideline in its entirety and implement recommendations as applicable in operative and other procedural settings.

Language: en

Keywords

*Perioperative Nursing/standards/methods; fire safety; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; latex allergy; Patient Safety/standards; Practice Guidelines as Topic; risk assessment; Safety Management/standards/methods; surgical skin antiseptic; warming cabinets