2 pts in the same OR room?!?!?!

Specialties Operating Room

Published

OK, heres the story...a new nurse came to work with us and mentioned that this one place (in cincinati perhaps?) would put 2 carpal tunnels in the SAME OR ROOM and the surgeon would do one then rescrub and the do the other and like an assembly line pump out as many CTR as possible.

so my NM got wind of this and trys to help these docs walk on water so she of course thinks its a great idea to at least see if they can do it, and get some symatics done. the doc loves the fact that shes doing this and of course he wants to pump out as many CTR as he can. WOW

now me and basically all the other nurses have a multitude of issues and feelings about this and we can see many issues. does anyone else do this? my friend called the health dept to see what they said (behind NM back) and they didnt have a direct answer for her and wanted her number to get back to her, but she didnt give out our number and hung up. i would love to see everyones thoughts and feelings. BTW it is a small independantly owned (meaning the docs own the building/company) surgery center that is within a huge building which contains doc offices(the ones that own the company of course) and a huge PT area and dept. we have 3 OR suites, 3 pre-op bays, 6 PACU bays.

Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

I was also wondering "If there are not two teams for the patients, one has to ask; did they receive the standard of care that the other patients received? I think not! "

That is just WRONG.... What happens when the wrong pt gets the wrong site worked on? Regardless of the amount of meds used, I would still consider this whole thing a Hippa violation.

Unbelievable. Man, I just hope my bosses dont' read this & get any dumb ideas, b/c they are always looking for shortcuts.

Specializes in Surgery.

that is what they have holding for is to have the next patient ready..I dont like the idea of 2 pts in the same room..Personally I wouldnt want another patient in the room if I was having surgery.I dont care what it is...I know after every case the room is wiped down..I just dont think it would be a good idea because I know its only CTR but you never know where blood flies too..I agree with everyone else about if the other patient starts having complications....I dont like it..

An eye doc recalled seeing assembly line patients for cataract surgery while in India. There the doc stayed seated, while patients were rolled down the line doing right eyes and then down the line doing left. He seemed to relish this idea...as if "If I could do that here, imagine the money to be made"....

Just what US healthcare needs..a dose of third world money grubbing

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Well, if you are having carpal tunnel surgery done, why not just install a drive-thru window - the pt wouldn't even need to get out of their car - lol.

well, as of friday, it was talked about and i guess the doc wants to get this up and running by april. really, someone is out of their gord!! it takes like 5 min to drop off a pt and take the next one into the room. we are all mind-boggled over this fact. how many more can u cram into a day. we all run our butts off anyways. and if u want to squeeze that many more pts in, we simply dont have the room for them. even tho its just a carpal tunnel, some pts take to the MAC and need to sleep it off. its not 100%predictable that every pt needs 5 min to recover. this whole situation is so weird. if our NM cant stand up for us/herself and lets the docs walk all over her, makes me wonder who does have our back....hmmm, i suppose that leaves noone. i dont understand why someone isnt just saying NO!

thanks for letting me vent here and glad to see im not overreacting.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
An eye doc recalled seeing assembly line patients for cataract surgery while in India. There the doc stayed seated, while patients were rolled down the line doing right eyes and then down the line doing left. He seemed to relish this idea...as if "If I could do that here, imagine the money to be made"....

Just what US healthcare needs..a dose of third world money grubbing

We had a doc that thought this too, annoyed me because, as usual, it was about the money, not about pt. care, and nevermind the staff would be busting their butt...

Specializes in longtermcare, homehealth, OR.

we set up two rooms same team one backup in the core after room turnover to set up the doc see's both patient pre-op of course if it is general not local we have another set of anesthesia

I invite your doctor to follow the trend and start his own surgi-center or private hospital. And not to hold his breath waiting for the patients to come flocking in.

As far as preop paper work, I don't think that needs to be skipped. All the pts can meet seminar style, pick up the packets under their chair, see a power point on risks and benefits, sign consents, and then have a "break-out" session where they will be sorted by anesthesia. I think, if they are already in gowns, we can just give the dr a marker and he can scribble notes on their sleeve ala Ellis Island physicals?

Specializes in Spinal Cord injuries, Emergency+EMS.

of course having decently designed Operating theatres with anaesthetic rooms and out-bays means you can do this almost seamlessly if enough ofthe perioperative team can collect/ prep / circulate and take people to PACU

Hey this is a GREAT idea, which I think could be used for other types of surgery too. How about 2 or 3 Vag hysters in the same room (almost typed woom ;-) ). Ooh, maybe two CABG-- they could share the same anesthesiologist and save even more money?

Maybe two or three docs could work on the same patient simultaneously to maximize profits. I'm thinking a podiatrist doing a bunion, an ortho guy doing a carpal tunnel (hey, why not two?), a lapchole going on in the middle, and maybe a carotid endarterectomy just for a bit of added excitement.

I think the possibilities are endless...

Bad practise!!! Yes, it would increase the revenues but also the incident of infection, wrong site being operated on, or worst wrong patient!!! and for me it's taking the standard for patient's care to it's lowest level...

Can anyone say, "HIPAA Violation?"

Try to enforce HIPAA! All these agencies that are suppose to protect the public, are governmental agencies..need I say more. The people employed at most of the agencies that license, inspect, and correct violations, do nothing. Does not surprise me at all. What will the future hold? You get more respect at a fast food restaurant.:o

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