[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 482 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 482

  Supporting the goals of an annual National Time-Out Day to promote 
       patient safety and optimal outcomes in the operating room.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2006

   Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Lugar, and Ms. Collins) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
               on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

                             June 15, 2006

             Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Supporting the goals of an annual National Time-Out Day to promote 
       patient safety and optimal outcomes in the operating room.

Whereas according to an Institute of Medicine (referred to in this resolution as 
        the ``IOM'') report entitled ``To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health 
        System'', published in 2000, between 44,000 and 98,000 hospitalized 
        people in the United States die each year due to medical errors, and 
        untold thousands more suffer injury or illness as a result of 
        preventable errors;
Whereas the IOM report recommends the establishment of a national goal of 
        reducing the number of medical errors by 50 percent over 5 years;
Whereas there are more than 40,000,000 inpatient surgery procedures and 
        31,000,000 outpatient surgery procedures performed annually in the 
        United States;
Whereas it is the right of every patient to receive the highest quality of care 
        in all surgical settings;
Whereas a patient is the most vulnerable and unable to make decisions on their 
        own behalf during a surgical or invasive procedure due to anesthesia or 
        other sedation;
Whereas improved communication among the surgical team and a reduction in 
        medical errors in the operating room are essential for optimal outcomes 
        during operative or other invasive procedures;
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the Joint Commission 
        on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the American College of 
        Surgeons, and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management 
        celebrated a National Time-Out Day on June 23, 2004, to promote the 
        adoption of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare 
        Organizations' universal protocol for preventing wrong site surgery 
        errors in operating rooms in the United States;
Whereas the Senate during the 109th Congress supported a National Time-Out Day 
        in 2005 on behalf of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, 
        the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the 
        American College of Surgeons, and the American Society for Healthcare 
        Risk Management to promote the adoption of the Joint Commission on 
        Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' universal protocol for 
        preventing errors in the operating room;
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, joined by coalition 
        partners, celebrated a National Time-Out Day on June 22, 2005, for the 
        purpose of promoting safe medication administration practices and the 
        Association of periOperative Registered Nurses distributed ``Safe 
        Medication Administration Tool Kits'' to more than 5,000 hospitals and 
        13,000 nurse managers or educators;
Whereas the 109th Congress passed the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act 
        of 2005 to provide for the improvement of patient safety and to reduce 
        the incidence of events that adversely affect patient safety;
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses develops and issues, 
        with coalition partners, universally-accepted authoritative statements, 
        recommended guidelines, best practice guidelines, and competency 
        statements for how to provide optimal care for patients in the operating 
        room;
Whereas there is nationally-focused attention on improving patient safety in all 
        healthcare facilities through the reduction of medical errors;
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the recognized 
        leader in patient safety in the operating room, promotes the highest 
        quality of patient care during all operative or invasive procedures; and
Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses designates and 
        celebrates National Time-Out Day on June 21, 2006, and each third 
        Wednesday of June thereafter to promote patient safety and optimal 
        outcomes in the operating room by focusing on the reduction of medical 
        errors, fostering better communication among the members of the surgical 
        team, and collaborating with coalition partners to establish universal 
        protocols to increase quality and safety for surgical patients: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideal of an annual National 
        Time-Out Day as designated by the Association of periOperative 
        Registered Nurses for ensuring patient safety and optimal 
        outcomes in the operating room; and
            (2) congratulates perioperative nurses and representatives 
        of surgical teams for working together to protect patient 
        safety during all operative and other invasive procedures.
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