Patient Privacy and Dignity Maintenance

Guidelines:

• Minimal exposure necessary
• Medically necessary commentary
• ‘HIPAA
• Anesthesia drunk
  • Don’t allow family to record
• Avoid comments, even if positive
  • Tattoos
  • Piercings

Considerations:

• OR cameras
  • Orient to see state of room, not intimacy of patient
  • Particularly if VIP patient, staff, etc
  • Can block with monitors, make floorwalker and charge aware
• Lithotomy covering
• Covering to PACU
  • Clean
• Hallway conversations
  • Patient’s family is still around!
  • Few details can reach false conclusions
• Matter of fact SBAR
• Open bay pre-op or PACU!

Nurse’s role:

• Professionally receive healthcare details and protect privacy
• Utilize resources to preserve exposure of patient where capable
• Police chatter and attitude of OR
• Interview patient before procedure for details to be shared, specifically avoided, etc
  • Family often given vague status updates, not medically significant
    • “Asleep and comfortable”
• On stage

Pitfalls:

• Inadvertent slippage
  • OB consults
• References to patient by details, tattoos, etc
• Handoff of piercings or belongings
• OR situated for head of bed away from door
  • Maximum exposure to window

Examples:

• Perineal piercing removed, charted (gracefully, without significance portrayed where possible, patient knows)
• “I’m an xyz fan too”(no go, tattoo typically not visible was not for surgical judgement-
  operative site exclusion)

Linchpins (Key Points):

• The OR is a personal, exposing experience for the patient who trusts the RN to navigate them appropriately