This is Part 2 in a 3-part series on strategic cord management in the operating room. Part 1 offered an overview of the safety risks of poor cord management. In Part 2, we’ll show you how proper cord management increases efficiency.
Poor cord management creates operating room inefficiencies that frustrate healthcare workers and extend procedure time. Here’s how proper cord management increases efficiency in operating rooms.
How to Increase OR Efficiency with Cord Management
Strategic cord management increases OR efficiency via faster set up, smoother surgery, and quicker turnover.
1. Faster Set Up
Surgical techs have a sense of urgency to set up quickly, yet many existing cord management “solutions” do not facilitate speed or organization. Bundling cords together and adhering them to the PT drape or mayo allows techs to set up faster and eliminates tangles.
Techs can organize cords for specific procedures or according to personal preference. For example, they can:
- Organize by disposable and non-disposable cords
- Bundle like instruments to create one working piece at the surgical site (for example, bundling the camera, light cord, and inflow/outflow tubing together)
- Organize instruments based on where they lead (for example, to the right or left side of the OR table)
Ultimately, strategic cord management lends surgical techs the flexibility to organize for optimal efficiency.
2. Smoother Surgery
Poor cord management compromises sterility because:
- Surgeons pull on tangled cords, making surgery more difficult and pulling cords out of (and back into) the sterile field
- Long apparatuses can fall out of the sterile field
- Metal clamps used to attach cords can tear PT drapes
As discussed in Part 1 of this series, replacing compromised apparatuses, cords, and drapes increases surgery time by an average of 7.6 minutes. Strategic cord management solves these problems as untangled cords enable surgeons to work unhindered and reduce the need to pause surgery to replace tools and drapes.
3. Quicker Turnover
Poor cord management increases the time it takes for techs to untangle and reorganize cords between procedures, causing unnecessary delays and compromising efficiency.
Strategic cord management eliminates tangling, making post-surgery tear down and clean-up faster and easier. This saves time between procedures, enabling hospitals to serve more patients, conduct more procedures, and increase organizational efficiency.
Strategic Cord Management for Efficiency
Cord management is a consistent challenge in the OR, and some ingenuitive techs have resorted to wrapping cords in towels and securing them with extra clamps. However, a better solution is to use a cord management drape inspired by those makeshift designs.
Cord management drapes are made from clear, impervious materials that safeguard against contamination while allowing techs to see the cords. They can be adhered to the mayo or PT drape via an adhesive, eliminating the need for metal clamps that can tear PT drapes. Techs can secure the bovie holster to the cord management drape and place suction and procedural tools in a pocket when they’re not in use, keeping them in the sterile field. In this manner, cord management drapes provide a quick, efficient way for techs to organize cords, prevent contamination, and conduct procedures more efficiently.
Next Step
Discover how strategic cord management can save hospitals and patients money in Part 3 of this series.
.jpg?width=67&name=Non-Sterile%20CE%20Mark%20(002).jpg)
