Action Products

An ambulatory surgical center (ASC) is a healthcare facility that focuses on providing same-day surgical care that includes diagnostic and preventative surgery. When looking at the ASC, it has transformed the outpatient surgical experience for millions of Americans by providing a more convenient surgical alternative. As much as 65% of all surgical cases performed take place in the outpatient ASC setting. 

Ask the Expert at AORN 2024!

Dr. Heather D. Kooiker, DNP, MSN, RN, CNL, CNOR, CRNFA, is a Board-Certified Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) who also holds Certifications in Perioperative Registered Nursing (CNOR), along with a Registered Nurse First Assistant Certification (CRNFA). Heather serves Baxter International as the Director of Global Medical Affairs for Patient Support Systems and Global Surgical Solutions. She is also a Professor of Nursing at Davenport University where she integrates Evidence Based Practice (EBP) and Research into the classroom, preparing the next generation of nurses.  Heather maintains her clinical edge by working as a Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) for an ambulatory plastic surgery center PRN. She is an active board member on the Western Michigan Chapter of AORN, she also sits on the executive board for the National Surgical Assisting Certification and is a peer reviewer for the CRNFA portfolio certification. 

Visit booth #1230 to experience, firsthand, Action® patient positioning solutions. We know it is difficult to choose the right positioning devices for your patients through catalog browsing alone so we will have a variety of positioning devices available for real-time assessment.

The supine position is the most common surgical position with the patient lying on their back with the head, neck and spine in a neutral position.   This position is not without pressure injury risk as there is increased pressure and shear forces to the scapula, occiput, elbows, sacrum, coccyx, and heels. Today we are going to look at ways to mitigate the risk for pressure injuries (PI) to the heel, related to the supine position. When a patient lies supine, all the pressure of their lower legs and feet rest on the heel.  Heel PI represents approximately one third of pressure injuries acquired, and can result in increased morbidity and mortality. In some cases, heel pressure injuries can lead to amputation of the affected limb.

One of the highly common surgical positions is supine. This approach involves the surgical team’s watchful eyes to oversee a patient that will lie on their back with their arms either tucked or untucked to provide direct anatomical and surgical exposure to any area from the head and neck to the anterior aspects of the lower legs and feet. Supine position may be requested for a myriad of surgical procedures including everything from a thyroid, chest, cardiac, general, urology, orthopedic, or podiatry procedure to name a few. Given the wealth of clinical indications for the supine position, intentional time must be afforded for the perioperative team to consider all areas of required surgical access, as well as the areas not exposed during the surgical intervention.

 By: Amos Schonrock, MAN, RN, ST, PHN, CSSM, CNAMB, CNOR, NE-BC, Perioperative Patient Safety Specialist

As perioperative professionals, the operating room team has a constant dedication and calling to the creation and maintenance of an environment that keeps our patient free from harm. As a vigilant guardian, the perioperative nurse is often at the forefront of this action. For positioning the perioperative patient, the nurse must use their senses to assess the patient’s well-being and current integumentary status as part of the pressure injury prevention assessment during all phases of care.