Encouraging Interdisciplinary Preoperative Communication With a Virtual Huddle: The Official Voice of Perioperative Nursing

Butterworth, Kristin M. S. N. B. S. R. N. Cnor Anderson Kirsten M. S. N. R. N. Cnor Hedgeland Taylor B. S. N. R. N. Cnor Colyar Theresa M. S. N. R. N. Cnor

[...]individual team members may perform patient care tasks without additional team member interaction (ie, in silos) and may lack opportunities for interdisciplinary communication. [...]all of the team members may not be in the same physical location at the same time;therefore, they may not have an opportunity to discuss the intraoperative plan of care collectively until after transporting the patient to the OR and administering the anesthetic. Lack of communication among staff members also can lead to failure to request important patient-related information or include patients and their family members or other support persons in communication involving patient care.5 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated risk for virus transmission during aerosolgenerating procedures has added to the complexity of surgical procedures. The process should be standardized and concise, and communicating team members should offer and request information related to the specified topic;in addition, team members should acknowledge that they have received the information.5 To facilitate teamwork and improve communication, AORN recommends that an interdisciplinary team that includes perioperative team members should establish and implement a standardized briefing process (ie, huddle) before a surgical procedure.9 Health care huddles can improve efficiency, the quality of information sharing, accountability among team members, and team member empowerment and situational awareness.10 During the huddle, the perioperative team members should * introduce themselves;* verify the patient's name and identifiers;* verify that the signed consent accurately reflects the procedure and side;* discuss the goals and estimated length of the procedure;* review diagnostic test results;* discuss the planned position and pressure injury risk assessment;* discuss required patient skin antisepsis;* verify that all needed supplies, equipment, instruments, and implants are available;* identify the patient's allergies or sensitivities;* discuss any special considerations or precautions;* discuss the fire risk assessment;and * ask questions and discuss safety or equipment concerns.9 Perioperative personnel also may address additional concerns during the huddle, including venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, antibiotic prophylaxis, the anesthetic plan, glucose monitoring, anticipated blood loss, and the postoperative plan of care.9 Personnel may use a checklist to guide the huddle and should stop all unnecessary activities and conversations to focus on the information being discussed.