Authors (including presenting author) :
LAM YY(1), WONG KK(1), LO HK(1), CHUI LY(1) , WONG KY(1), LAW N(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Surgical Department, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Drainage system is commonly applied to surgical patients for therapeutic use like surgical wound drainage is recognized as a key element in facilitating would healing. Also, there are many different types of drain eg. PTBD, Foley catheter and abdominal drain. Sometimes patients have multiple drains inserted. Procedure like insertion, shifting and removal of drain are very common in surgical wards. However, incidents related to removal of wrong drain due to misidentification of different drains and wrong connection of drainage system due to incorrect labelling of container occasionally happened. For the sake of patient safety, correct and clear drainage system labelling is essential in preventing incidents.
Objectives :
1.Standardization of drain labeling practice among four surgical wards
2.Enhancement of drainage system labelling by eye-catching color coding and clear labelling
3.Prevention of wrong drain removal and wrong connection of drainage system
Methodology :
1.Identify common types of drain in surgical wards
2.Decide color coding of label according to the usual normal color of drain output
-Yellow for urine, pleural fluid, gastric fluid
-Green for bile
-Red for post-op inter-/intra-organs blood-stained drainage
3.Standardize the name of different drains in both Chinese and English for clear identification
4.Decide the material of drain label
- Waterproof and digital printed dymo tape was chosen to use
5.Standardize the drain label position for easy checking
-Double-sided label used near the drain's connection to the container (eg. Bedside Bag, SB bottle…)
-Single-sided label used on the container
6.Implement a pilot trial for one month in all surgical wards in Mid-October to Mid-November 2022.
7.Evaluate the result of pilot trail and make improvement in December 2022
- Not user-friendly to use dymo type as it needs manpower to prepare the labels like printing and cutting.
Also, it is difficult for storage and expensive.
- Custom-made label is preferable since it is ready to use, easy to store and cost effective.
Result & Outcome :
After the implementation of this enhancement program since mid-October 2022 in all surgical wards:
- There is no incident related to wrong drain removal due to misidentification of different drains.
- Doctors, nurses, nursing supporting staff and allied health staff are welcomed and satisfied with this new enhancement as patient’s safety is enhanced.
