Use of a Novel Memory Aid to Educate Perioperative Team Members on Proper Patient Positioning Technique

Abstract

Interdisciplinary collaboration is key to safe surgical positioning. Although the surgical procedure dictates the patient's position, surgeons, anesthesia care providers, intraoperative nurses, and ancillary staff members must work together to achieve the goal of safe positioning. Correct patient positioning includes the provision of adequate access to the surgical site for the surgeon and surgical assistants. Surgical positions may put the patient at risk of injury. Understanding human anatomy, including the nerves commonly affected by each surgical position, can help the surgical team prevent accidental and irreversible patient injury. A lack of knowledge of proper positioning practices can result in serious patient injury, such as permanent paralysis, blindness, tissue necrosis, burns, bone fracture, and even death. This article reviews surgical positioning and introduces a learning module that involves the use of mnemonics as memory aids for perioperative team members who are learning proper positioning techniques.

An Evidence-based General Anesthesia and Prone Position Nursing Checklist: Development and Testing

“…These ndings are similar to those of other studies [25]. Previous prone position studies or training usually aim to prevent one particular complication or to introduce the prone positioning method [7,14,15], but not analyze the high-risk factors and measures during each stage of prone positioning. As a result, the nurse's prone positioning theoretical and practice level knowledge depends on their own knowledge and experience with this position.…”

“…Prior work showed that 73% of the operating room (OR) nurses did not have adequate knowledge about how to prevent perioperative PI, and their ability to identify risks for PI was also limited [6]. OR nurses also lack an evidence-based tool and method to help them provide optimal prone position nursing practices [7]. Enhancing OR nurses' skills for managing patients in the prone position is necessary to prevent injuries.…”

“…However, both checklists were based on unevaluated evidence and their target users were not circulating nurses. Further, traditional prone position nursing courses and studies usually focus on prone positioning methods, complications, and preventive measures, and ignored the high-risk factors and countermeasures during each stage of prone positioning [7,14,15]. As a result, the nurse's prone positioning theoretical and practice level usually relies on their own knowledge and experience.…”

The clinical effectiveness of an integrated multidisciplinary evidence‐based program to prevent intraoperative pressure injuries in high‐risk children undergoing long‐duration surgical procedures: A quality improvement study

“…46 Finally, we strongly believe that educational meetings aimed at creating a trained and expert multidisciplinary, interdepartmental team devoted to the application of a protection strategy based on matching support surfaces and prophylactic dressings to meet the PI prevention needs of the whole paediatric age range spectrum during LDSP and the subsequent post-operative period, are essential and indivisible features of a successful PI prevention program for complex vulnerable children undergoing long duration surgical procedures. [47][48][49]…”

An evidence‐based general anaesthesia and prone position nursing checklist: Development and testing

“…However, prior work showed that 73% of the operating room (OR) nurses did not have adequate knowledge about how to prevent perioperative PI, and their ability to identify risks for PI was also limited (Khong et al, 2020 ). Besides, they also lack evidence‐based tools and methods to help them provide optimal prone position nursing practices (Woodfin et al, 2018 ).…”