National Time Out Day

WHEREAS, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) annually promotes National Time Out Day to emphasize the importance of surgical teams taking a Time Out before every operation to confirm correct patient, correct procedure, correct surgical site and other important information, ensuring patient safety; and

WHEREAS, AORN began sponsoring National Time Out Day in 2004 to raise awareness about the importance of requiring the entire surgical team, including physicians, nurses and surgical technologists to pause (take a Time Out) before all invasive procedures, communicating as a group and confirming key information about the patient and procedure to help prevent errors from occurring; and

WHEREAS, wrong-site surgery and other preventable mistakes still occur too frequently in operating rooms; and

WHEREAS, taking a Time Out helps reduce surgical error, improves optimal patient outcomes, and is a simple step to reduce unnecessary health care costs; and

WHEREAS, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint Commission, AORN has assembled several tools, including a checklist, and has developed new resources to support effective Time Outs; and

WHEREAS, National Time Out Day will be practiced in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers around the country on June 15, 2011; and

WHEREAS, it is important to recognize the efforts led by periOperative Registered Nurses to improve patient safety and reduce unnecessary health care costs:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim June 15, 2011, as

National Time Out Day

in the State of the Alabama.

 

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 29th day of June 2011.

                                                                                Governor Robert Bentley