St. Luke’s surgery tracking board aims to ease waiting room worries

Waiting for a loved one undergoing surgery often provokes feelings of worry and anxiety. St. Luke's Hospital recently added electronic screens to its surgery waiting room, which update family members and friends with timely information about a patient's progress.

The electronic screens are essentially a large TV screen connected to a computer, which is connected to the hospital's nursing documentation system. As the surgical nurses chart information about each patient, it automatically updates to the electronic screen in the St. Luke's waiting room.

To maintain confidentially, each patient is assigned a medical record number, which is given to the patient's family. They use this number to track the patient's surgery progress. Each step in the surgery is displayed in a different color in an effort to make it easy for the family to identify when their loved one has moved onto the step. When the patient's surgery is complete a member of the St. Luke's surgery team or the patient's surgeon updates the family personally and explains where and when they can see them.

“The feedback from family members has been positive,” said Kristin McVay, St. Luke's peri-anesthesia manager. “Sometimes a procedure may take longer than the family expects – it may be because of a lot of pre-surgery work that needs to be done, which can take some time. This way the family can see when the prep work is finished and the actual surgery begins.”

“It's a wonderful tool,” said Barb Queto. “My mom just had surgery and I was able to follow right along. It helped alleviate some anxiety during her surgery. I'm glad St. Luke's added this new feature. It's really nice – it gives me some peace of mind.”

To watch an interview with Barb Queto go to http://youtu.be/wj6v1WA6UUY

Photo caption: Barb Queto checks her mom's surgery progress using St. Luke's surgery tracking board.