In the workforce, employees are always coming up with new ideas that can improve the quality of everyday work life. Within the unique minds that make up, a given staff are undoubtedly a set of creative visions that can enhance the overall functions of the job. Regardless of what industry it is, it can always be improved and built on, and things are always changing. For the medical staff in Sydney, a doctor starts a scrub cap trend that saves lives and is receiving international praise and recognition.
To avoid confusion in the operating theatre, an Australian anesthetist has changed the game with a new trend that is seemingly beginning to change medicine. Writing his name on his scrub cap, he has started a movement that is being embraced by medical staff internationally and may save vital seconds in life and death situations.
Dr. Rob Hackett is the one who began this trend, upon being involved in an operating room where about 20 staff were involved, and there was a struggle in coordination. “It’s so much easier to coordinate when you know everyone’s names. It’s great for camaraderie and it’s great for patients as well.” Collaborating with student midwife Alison Brindle, the ‘#TheatreCapChallenge’ is now taking over medical Twitter. In the initiative to support patient safety, many doctors have written their names on their caps too, to make their given unit run smoother as a whole.
This idea is believed to help reduce the chances of delays and misidentification when doctors are unable to recognize each other and the names of their colleagues when operating, which could be the difference in seconds that count towards saving someone’s life. Now, medical staff are adopting this trend and using it to save the day.
Working with hundreds of combinations of colleagues from multiple hospitals makes it easier for each other to identify who is who, and what their role is in the given operation. Wearing scrubs and having faces covered partially with masks can make it a little more challenging, with the names and positions now clearly labelled on caps to expedite the process.
During a medical emergency, precious seconds and minutes can be lost if there is a mixup in any case. In the past, Dr. Hackett said that there have been delays in performing chest compressions on patients in cardiac arrest as nobody could be clearly identified or recognized at the time of the task. Furthermore, medical students have even been mistaken for surgery registrars and asked to complete procedures that they haven’t before. This can be a major risk when it comes to being in charge of someone’s life.
Dr. John Quinn, the Executive Director of Surgical Affairs at the Royal Australian College of Surgeons approved of this idea, stating “Anything that increases safety for patients in operating theatres is a good thing”. This popular trend is now catching on, and can only be a positive idea that will enhance the overall dynamics and functions of the operating room.
If you liked this article, please click on the NEXT POST button below! Don’t forget to SHARE with your Facebook friends!
