[A project to promote patient positioning accuracy in operating rooms]

Inappropriate patient positioning during surgery causes respiratory pattern changes, inadequate gaseous exchange, tissue hypoperfusion and disruption of skin integrity. Inadvertent loosening of positioning devices on a patient in our ward during surgery caused surgical field contamination. We thus proposed a project to promote patient positioning accuracy in operating rooms to improve patient safety.

This project was intended to promote accurate patient positioning by operating room nurses, raise nursing professionalism, ensure patient safety, and avoid unnecessary patient injury.

Under the project, we held educational training programs, developed patient positioning standard operating procedures (SOPs) and check lists, inspected all positioning assistance devices, purchased additional belt restraint straps, and conducted periodic monitoring.

Patient positioning execution accuracy increased from 80% to 100%; cognition of patient positioning increased from 88% to 100%.

The operating room committee adopted the proposed procedures and they are now SOPs in all operating rooms at our hospital. We suggest including the SOPs developed in this project in continuous education programs and urge making well-designed positioning assistance devices available to protect patient safety during surgery.