Disorganized OR

[canesdukegirl]

I work in a large teaching hospital. Our ORs are for the most part organized. However, we are constantly searching for essential equipment such as axillary rolls, gel pads for ulnar protection, safety straps for the OSI beds...it is so frustrating. Although we have an equipment room, it is cluttered and there is no one that manages the room. Sometimes I will spend 15 minutes looking for a freaking safety strap.

What have been some solutions that you all have come up with to combat this problem?

[fracturenurse]

we did solve the missing alvarado knee plate issue by asking CSP to sterilize ALL the parts....that way the scrub can hand of the non-sterile pieces, and then they all go back to CSP in the dirty case cart--pieces stay together and we KNOW they get cleaned! when the plates just lay around, I'm never sure how well they've been cleaned.

Hey, this is a great idea! I'm going to suggest this asap. We found a few of ours up on the floor. Nobody ever took them out and they went up with the patient. The floor nurses had no idea what they were!