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.
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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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