Labeled Scrub Caps Team Receives 2023 ISP Star Award

November 3, 2023

The Labeled Scrub Caps Team is the recipient of a 2023 ISP Star Award.

“This honor recognizes individuals and teams who, through extraordinary effort and immense skill, embody the strategic priorities of our Integrated Strategic Plan (ISP): Value Focused, Digitally Driven, Uniquely Stanford,” wrote Chief Strategy Officer Priya Singh in her notification to the team.

A highlight from a nomination:

The operating room is one place where everyone should know your name. That deceptively simple idea led to your wonderful project that saw nearly 1,000 perioperative team members — physicians, nurses, technologists, and other staff — receive scrub cabs embroidered with their preferred name and their role. The results were stark: Incidents of mistaken roles plummeted and the use of preferred names soared. In a space where communications errors can negatively impact patients, the labeled scrub caps reduced confusion, improved teamwork, and affirmed Stanford’s respect for individuals.

Labeled scrub caps first made an appearance in 2017 in Australia with the #TheatreCapChallenge. Members of the Goodman Surgical Education Center ran a small pilot the next year. Surgery Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Aussama Nassar joined forces with Drs. Becky Wong and Sara Goldhaber-Fiebert from the Department of Anesthesia in 2021 to run a larger in-situ pilot. Preliminary data showed that labeled scrubcaps “enhanced communication, teamwork, and patient safety.” There were also indications that labeled scrubcaps promoted diversity, equity and inclusion.

The “Say My Name” challenge is now in is second year with all trainees, faculty, and OR staff receiving a free scrubcap embroidered with their name and role.

Related News

– SoundCloud

Episode 3: Labeled Surgical Caps

In this episode, we focus on a paper published in the journal Anesthesiology titled "Labeled Surgical Caps: A Tool to Improve Perioperative Communication.” I'm joined by one of the authors, Dr. Ausama
– American Society of Anesthesiologists

Labeled Surgical Caps: A Tool to Improve Perioperative Communication

Communication in the operating room is enhanced by knowing everyone’s names and roles. This is challenging among different disciplines.1 Name badges can be small, flipped, and concealed by personal protective equipment. A labeled scrub cap may make name and role more readable from a distance (fig.).

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As the Director of Communications for Stanford Surgery, Rachel Baker tells the stories of her department's faculty, staff, and trainees. With the help of an amazing team of content creators, she produces and curates original articles, photos, videos, graphics, and even podcasts.She works personally with each division, center, program, and lab within her purview to define their audience and reach their goals while maintaining a consistent brand voice. She hosts quarterly professional development workshops open to all AEM web authors--please email her if you'd like to join! She also offers both 1:1 and group education to faculty and residents on a variety of topics including media training, using social media to advantage, and presentation refinement. Rachel holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism with a focus on photography from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A transplant from the DC-area, she still misses foliage and argyle but has happily adopted the official NorCal hobbies of visiting wineries, hiking local trails, and eating avocado.

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