forces to bring a much-needed produ

forces to bring a much-needed product into the public domain … we want to see
TeamSTEPPS used in both military and community health settings.”7
The DoD Patient Safety Program extended permission to AORN to customize the
existing materials with a focus specifically on perioperative settings. Perioperative
settings are technologically complex patient care environments with multidisciplinary
teams making timely coordinated interventions in acute situations to minimize adverse
events, near misses, or inefficiency throughout the continuum of surgical care.6 “Medical
errors in surgical patients can lead to catastrophic patient outcomes.”6,407
The customized TeamSTEPPS program is an opportunity for the surgical team to
diminish the risk of error and improve patient outcomes by creating a structure to support
standardized “hand-offs” and improve communications during care transitions within the
perioperative environment. Taking the original toolkit designed by the DoD Patient
Safety Program, with the “perioperative lens” in place, AORN modified the language and
situational examples to fit the surgical and procedural settings. Specifically, guidance is
provided with regard to information related to The Joint Commission requirements.
Numerous tools, mnemonics, and strategies are used as templates, with the objective
being improved “hand offs” and patient care transitions. Human factors research,
scientific evidence, and identifiable best practices are also outlined. AORN is not
advocating one tool or strategy over another; however, AORN stresses that The Joint
Commission requirements should be adhered to as a minimal standard from which
healthcare organizations can expound to enhance communications and patient care
“hand-off” transitions.8
The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal on Hand-off Communications
In an effort to simplify the terminology in this tool kit, transitions in patient care will be
referred to as “hand offs.” The primary objective of a hand off is to provide accurate
information about a patient’s, client’s, or resident’s general care plan, treatment, services