OUTPATIENT SURGERY RN PREOPERATIVE POST ANESTHESIA CARE UNIT

The center rolled out its FCOT starts and hit a goal of 70% during the first week and continued to maintain an 80% or greater record. In November, the center went live with its Keck USC Urology joint venture.

Following the implementation of its telephone etiquette and Helping Us Support Healing initiatives, the center’s patient satisfaction score rose to 95.8%.

Play the ball that’s been hit. It’s one of the lessons Nicole Brown, RN, BSN, applies to her job as clinical coordinator of Henry Mayo’s main operating room (OR). The former college softball third base player supervises every aspect of the OR’s daily operations, from patient, physician, anesthesiology and nurse scheduling to equipment and supplies to surgical nurse training. The unit serves cancer, cardiac, neuro, OB-GYN, plastic surgery, trauma and urgent/emergent patients, everything short of transplant surgery. It’s a job that demands agility and quick reflexes.

“It’s a dance in the OR and things change all the time,” explains Brown, whose interest in nursing began with caring for her mother who had undergone several back surgeries.

Nicole Brown Staying in control helps OR patients

“You need to be on your toes working with the surgeon, technicians and the anesthesiologist while anticipating the next steps in the surgery.”

Brown, who joined Henry Mayo eight years ago and assumed her role last year, previously worked on the hospital’s main floor where she cared for several patients simultaneously. Now, she can focus on helping one patient at a time get through what might be the most uncomfortable part of their hospital stay.

“Before patients go under anesthesia, you get only 3-5 minutes to talk to them and get them to trust you. What I love about my job is being able to make them comfortable enough to put their lives in my hands. You squeeze their hand and they squeeze yours back. You don’t need words to tell them ‘I got you.’”