Syracuse, N.Y.-based Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital implemented a new patient safety initiative that involves nurses being able to turn on a red light mounted on their workstation to indicate they are not be disturbed.
The lights have been mounted an all workstations on wheels and let other hospital workers know the nurse is performing critical patient care tasks. The hospital also mounted red lights on doors in the pediatric intensive care unit.
The patient safety initiative aims to create a "no interruption zone" for nurses, similar to the "sterile cockpit" rule used by the aviation industry to reduce errors. The initiative primarily aims to mitigate medication errors, as medications are typically prepared at workstations in hallways just outside patient rooms.
"We spent time investigating various lights and different ways to display them, staffs have received education on their use, and signs will be visible to patient families and visitors," said Bonnie Seitz, RN, clinical nurse specialist and pediatric safety officer at the hospital.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights, Ohio, also use the "no interruption zone" model.