WRNMMC, Bethesda, MD  –   Staff from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s (WRNMMC) Quality Directorate and Perioperative Surgery closed out 2022 with a first-place win at the OR Managers Conference, a meeting aimed at educating leaders responsible for perioperative care.
Dr. Dana Koester, U.S. Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Robert Call and Ignacia Joyner, RN, submitted the winning process improvement poster, titled “8-Step Practical Problem-Solving Initiative/Skin Care Injuries in the Operating Room.”
The project addressed patient skin care injuries by identifying the gaps and implementing process improvements resulting in an 81-percent reduction in skin injuries during operating room procedures for the fiscal year 2022.
“This project is a win for our team closing out 2022,” shared Koester, WRNMMC’s Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and principal investigator for the project poster. “Once the gaps were researched and identified, processes were developed, and our team, along with operating room staff members, put them into practice.”
Koester added that in addition to ongoing surgical preparations through staff education and literature research, contributing factors to the process improvement’s success were conducting skin assessments pre/post procedure, proper positioning of the forced air warming blankets, and tugging the sheets under patients.
The award-winning project poster reinforces WRNMMC’s Quality and Perioperative Surgery teams continued commitment to providing the best patient experience through safe, quality, and compassionate care.
To learn more about Quality and Safety Reports, visit: https://walterreed.tricare.mil/About-Us/Quality-and-Safety-Reports