Final answer:
Nurses should follow strict guidelines when receiving telephone orders, including verbally confirming orders, checking surgical counts, confirming specimen labels, and reviewing concerns about patient care. They also participate in team confirmations before surgical procedures and ensure adherence to safety protocols.
Step-by-step explanation:
A nurse should follow certain guidelines when receiving telephone orders from health care providers to ensure patient safety and the accuracy of the orders given. These guidelines include verbally repeating the orders back to the provider for confirmation, accurately recording the details such as the name of the procedure, verifying the needle, sponge, and instrument counts, and confirming specimen labeling. Aside from these specifics, nurses should also review aloud with the team any concerns regarding the patient's recovery and care, and take a “time out” with the team to confirm patient identity, surgical site, and procedure before the commencement of any surgical action.
Additionally, it's imperative that the nurse acknowledges and understands the importance of lab safety guidelines, follows directions carefully, and actively participates in the confirmation of anesthesia before induction, as signed-in protocols demand. Nurses are also encouraged to partake in the oral confirmation of team member introductions and to review any critical events anticipated during surgical procedures, such as the surgeon reviewing operative steps and nursing staff confirming sterility and equipment availability.
These checks and confirmations are vital, akin to the checklist used by ICU doctors for inserting a central intravenous line as proposed by Dr. Pronovost—ensuring that every step is followed and empowering nurses to speak up should a physician miss a step. This level of diligence is similar to safety protocols observed by pilots using preflight checklists. Together, these practices contribute to the maintenance of high standards of patient care and safety within a medical context.