[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 17, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4710-S4711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 482--SUPPORTING THE GOALS OF AN ANNUAL NATIONAL TIME-
OUT DAY TO PROMOTE PATIENT SAFETY AND OPTIMAL OUTCOMES IN THE OPERATING 
                                  ROOM

  Ms. LANDRIEU submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 482

       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

[[Page S4711]]

     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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