Heywood Hospital is the first hospital in Massachusetts to receive the Gold Level Go Clear Award
Heywood Hospital announced today that it has earned the Go Clear Award? for its achievement in eliminating hazardous smoke from its surgical procedures. The Go Clear Award is presented by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) to recognize healthcare facilities that have committed to providing increased surgical patient and health care worker safety by implementing practices that eliminate smoke caused by the use of lasers and electrosurgery devices during surgery. Heywood Hospital earned its award by undergoing comprehensive surgical smoke education and testing and for providing the medical devices and resources necessary to evacuate surgical smoke during all smoke-generating procedures.
Surgical smoke is the unwanted by-product of energy-generating devices that are used in 90 percent of all surgeries. Its contents include toxic chemicals such as benzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, viruses, bacteria, blood and cancer cells. Inhalation and absorption of surgical smoke pose serious health risks to patients and surgical staff. Studies compare the inhalation of smoke from vaporized human tissue to the smoke created by cigarettes; the average daily impact of surgical smoke to the surgical team is equivalent to inhaling 27-30 unfiltered cigarettes. Today, it is estimated only 50% of health care workers across the U.S. understand the hazards of smoke exposure.
"Total evacuation needs to become the standard for all procedures that generate surgical smoke," said Linda Groah, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN, CEO/Executive Director of AORN. "With this award, Heywood Hospital is demonstrating its deep commitment to the health and safety of its staff and community."
Rozanna Penney, CRNA, MSNA, Vice President of Perioperative Services and Chief APP Officer for Heywood Healthcare said, "The Heywood Hospital Surgical Team is extremely proud to be the first hospital in Massachusetts to receive this prestigious award. This initiative was spear-headed by Tim Patno, RNFA, CNOR and for that our community is thankful".
About Heywood Hospital
A member of the Heywood Healthcare system, Heywood Hospital is a 134-bed acute care hospital in Gardner, MA, providing a broad range of high quality medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric and behavioral health services on an inpatient and outpatient basis. The hospital's Centers of Excellence include the Watkins Center for Emergency and Acute Care; the LaChance Maternity Center; the Diabetes Center and the Heywood Heart and Vascular Center, an affiliate of the Heart and Vascular Center at UMass Memorial Health Care.
About AORN
AORN represents the interests of more than 160,000 perioperative nurses by providing nursing education, standards, and practice resources-including the peer-reviewed, monthly publication AORN. Journal-to enable optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and other invasive procedures. AORN's 40,000 registered nurse members manage, teach, and practice perioperative nursing, are enrolled in nursing education or engaged in perioperative research.