Different OR..

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So I moved from a city to a very rural area. A different state as well. In Chicago they are big on the operating room nurse never signing the consents. Where I moved, Colorado, they have a different way and the OR nurse does. Is this okay? I feel like a huge pain constantly asking the nurse to sign the consent, because nobody else does.. But I also just feel better doing that.

Also for surgeries where you can't mark procedures. They don't have bands on the patient stating the procedure, like from were I was from. The policy does actually state that if you can't mark it then another identification needs to be used. So I made a fuss about it, yet the manager kind of blows it off. How does your OR do it? Maybe I am just being picky

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In our free standing out patient surgery center in California the OR nurse can witness and sign that she witnessed the patients signature. Pre-op usually does it, but if for various reasons they can't no problem with the OR nurse doing it.

Not sure about procedures where you can't mark the patients body? Anything that is right vs left,or even upper vs lower....kidney, ovary, of course any limb, cervical injection, sacral injection, etc., gets marked. I can't think of surgeries where you can't mark the body, but my brain is kind of foggy today?

We don't have any type of band on the patient that states the procedure.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Not sure about procedures where you can't mark the patients body? Anything that is right vs left,or even upper vs lower....kidney, ovary, of course any limb, cervical injection, sacral injection, etc., gets marked. I can't think of surgeries where you can't mark the body, but my brain is kind of foggy today?

We don't have any type of band on the patient that states the procedure.

Those through a natural orifice, like a cysto or tonsillectomy- we use a band as well. I've seen other facilities that have a human body image on the back of the surgical consent that is used.

As for witnessing the consent, why are you against doing it OP? It's not uncommon at all in my facility for the OR circulator to end up being the witness. Preop nurses have more than one patient at a time, so I'd rather witness it and get the patient going than spend time hunting down the preop nurse and taking her away from another patient doing tasks I'm not familiar with doing when it comes to getting a patient ready.

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Okay thanks for the info. Not sure why the other places I've worked at have rhe bands then when it's not a left or right procedure

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Those through a natural orifice, like a cysto or tonsillectomy- we use a band as well. I've seen other facilities that have a human body image on the back of the surgical consent that is used.

As for witnessing the consent, why are you against doing it OP? It's not uncommon at all in my facility for the OR circulator to end up being the witness. Preop nurses have more than one patient at a time, so I'd rather witness it and get the patient going than spend time hunting down the preop nurse and taking her away from another patient doing tasks I'm not familiar with doing when it comes to getting a patient ready.

I suppose ivr been so against it because at the first hospital I worked at they drilled it into my head, NEVER sign the consent as a circulator. I guess it just seemed obvious that it was better to have someone who was not in the room sign the consent. I know I'm just consenting to them understanding and given the right information.

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Where I practice, OR RN's may not sign/witness the consents and only the attending or resident may mark the skin.

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AORN is a good resource, but your facility policy would be a good place to start. Here are a couple of resources.

Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Position Statement on Correct Site Surgery | 2

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