Surgical instrument availability

ABSTRACT
- SURGICAL INSTRUMENT AVAILABILITY often is at the top of the list for perioperative quality improvement projects.
- ENSURING AVAILABILITY of surgical instruments can be a daily struggle. At one facility, searching for items shortly before a procedure was a common occurrence.
- THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES a three-year quality improvement project undertaken to improve instrument availability throughout surgical services. The article also includes future plans and lessons learned. AORN J 81 (May 2005) 1017-1022.