Suggestions for policies restricting OR visitors
Suggestions for policies restricting OR visitors
ECRI, the nonprofit health devices research agency in Plymouth Meeting, PA, suggests including some or all of these items in a policy concerning sales representatives in the OR:
• An administrative or legal representative of the visitor’s company must provide a document releasing the hospital from any liability related to the sales representative’s presence.
• The visitor must complete an educational session, either a written text or an informal verbal discussion, on proper OR conduct. The session should include OR apparel, traffic patterns, avoiding the sterile field, universal precautions, fire safety, electrical safety, radiation safety, and similar issues. It is not necessary to have the visitor repeat the educational session each time, but a new visitor should undergo the orientation, no matter how much he or she protests that it is not necessary.
• Document any noncompliance with proper OR conduct, and report it to the appropriate OR manager. If serious enough, or repeated, the sales representative can be banned from the OR.
• Require salespeople to make appointments whenever they wish to visit the OR. Even if invited by the surgeon, the sales representative should follow the proper channels to notify the OR manager and obtain permission.
• Negative comments about other sales representatives or competitors are forbidden.
• Sales representatives are not allowed in the doctors’ lounges unless specifically invited by a doctor.
• Any member of the OR team can request that the sales representative leave. The visitor must immediately leave an area when asked, and he or she must comply with any other instructions in the OR or related areas.
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