Continuing Medical Education
Operating Room Etiquette & Patient Safety: Readiness Before Entry
Know how to behave, communicate, and protect the patient before you ever cross the red line.
Duration
2 hours
Self-paced, resumable
Credit
Pending
2.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits — pending approval
Pass mark
80%
Final assessment
Format
Enduring
Online, on demand
Why this activity exists
The practice gap
New and rotating OR personnel frequently arrive without formal instruction in sterile-field behavior, traffic and attire rules, closed-loop communication, and speak-up escalation, contributing to preventable contamination events, wrong-site risk, and team conflict.
Purpose
Prepare learners to enter the operating room with the behavioral, communication, and safety competencies expected on day one, and to recognize and speak up about risks to patient safety.
Who it is for
Physician assistants, medical and PA students, nurses, surgical technologists, first assistants, industry representatives, and any clinician preparing for perioperative rotations or duties.
Learning objectives
After completing this activity you will be able to:
- Describe the physical and behavioral boundaries of the sterile field and identify common breaches.
- Apply hand hygiene, surgical attire, and OR traffic principles consistent with current CDC and WHO guidance.
- Demonstrate closed-loop communication during counts, medication transfer, specimen handling, and handoffs.
- Execute the roles and responsibilities of the surgical time-out under the Joint Commission Universal Protocol.
- Differentiate professional from unprofessional conduct in the perioperative environment and explain its safety impact.
- Use a graded assertiveness technique to escalate a patient safety concern to any member of the team.
- Identify the correct reporting pathway after a near miss or adverse event within a just-culture framework.
How the activity is structured
Awareness
Stage 1 — Awareness
The physical environment, the sterile field, attire, traffic, and hand hygiene.
25 minutes · 4 lessons · knowledge check required
Understanding
Stage 2 — Understanding
Roles, the Universal Protocol, counts, specimens, and the mechanics of contamination.
25 minutes · 4 lessons · knowledge check required
Competency
Stage 3 — Competency
Closed-loop communication, handoffs, graded assertiveness, and the two-challenge rule.
30 minutes · 4 lessons · knowledge check required
Transformation
Stage 4 — Transformation
Just culture, error reporting, professional boundaries, and an integrated capstone case.
30 minutes · 4 lessons · knowledge check required
Competency domains
Every assessment item is tagged to one of these domains, and your feedback is reported by domain.
Sterile Field Integrity
Recognizing, maintaining, and restoring the sterile field and its boundaries.
Infection Prevention
Hand hygiene, attire, traffic, and environmental practices that reduce infection risk.
Closed-Loop Communication
Structured, verifiable exchange of clinical information within the team.
Universal Protocol & Time-Out
Site marking, verification, time-out, and surgical safety checklist practice.
Professionalism & Etiquette
Role clarity, hierarchy, boundaries, and conduct in the perioperative environment.
Speak-Up & Safety Culture
Escalation, psychological safety, error reporting, and just culture behaviors.
Faculty and disclosure
Ashley S. Williams, PA-C
course director
Disclosure has not yet been completed and recorded.
Owlsagacity Education Planning Committee
planner
Disclosure has not yet been completed and recorded.
Content status