GRMC earns national recognition for Safety in Surgery
9 Feb 2023
Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Cindy Aguirre
(Seguin) — Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC) has earned yet another prestigious award. GRMC this week announced that it has
earned the Go Clear Award™ for its achievement in eliminating hazardous smoke from its surgical procedures.
The Go Clear Award is presented by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) to recognize health care facilities that have committed to providing increased surgical patient and health care worker safety by implementing practices that eliminate smoke caused by the use of lasers and electrosurgery devices during surgery.
GRMC earned its award by undergoing comprehensive surgical smoke education and testing and for providing the medical devices and resources necessary to evacuate surgical smoke during all smoke-generating procedures.
“The collaborative work of our team is extremely beneficial to the entire OR staff, as well as our surgeons,” says GRMC Director of OR/SPD, Jody Elliot, MSN, RN. Being able to alleviate the effects of long-term exposure to surgical smoke is the right choice for our employees and physicians.”
Surgical smoke is the unwanted by-product of energy-generating devices that are used in 90 percent of all surgeries. Its contents include toxic chemicals such as benzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, viruses, bacteria, blood and cancer cells. Inhalation and absorption of surgical smoke pose serious health risks to patients and surgical staff. Studies compare the inhalation of smoke from vaporized human tissue to the smoke created by cigarettes; the average daily impact of surgical smoke to the surgical team is equivalent to inhaling 27-30 unfiltered cigarettes.
“Total evacuation needs to become the standard for all procedures that generate surgical smoke,” said Linda Groah, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN, CEO/Executive Director of AORN. “With this award, Guadalupe Regional Medical Center is demonstrating its deep commitment to the health and safety of its staff and community.”
Today, it is estimated only 50 percent of health care workers across the U.S. understand the hazards of smoke exposure.
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