David M Neyens, Sara Bayramzadeh, Kenneth Catchpole, Anjali Joseph, Kevin Taaffe, Katherina Jurewicz, Amin Khoshkenar, Dee San
The physical environment affects how work is done in operating rooms (OR). The circulating nurse (CN), in particular, requires access to and interacts with materials, equipment, and technology more than other OR team members. Naturalistic study of CN behavior is therefore valuable in assessing how OR space and physical configuration influences work patterns and disruptions. This study evaluated the CNs' work patterns and flow disruptions (FD) by analyzing 25 surgeries across three different ORs. The OR layouts were divided into transitional and functional zones, and the work of CNs was categorized into patient, equipment, material, and information tasks...
March 30, 2018: Applied Ergonomics