Operating room nurses and surgical assistants juggle a myriad of tasks. Supporting the surgeon, they continually balance varying patient needs, extraneous distractions, plus quality and safety standards. It’s no wonder nurses so often experience emotional and mental distress that leads to burnout.1
That’s why it’s critical to equip these healthcare professionals with modern medical devices that make their jobs easier, not more difficult. For decades, vascular Doppler technology brought inconvenience and stress to nurses and surgical assistants. With the intuitive design and smart interface of VascuChek®, these professionals enjoy a new level of ease.
VascuChek’s Cordless Design
Traditional vascular Doppler systems use a large transceiver box equipped with tethered probes and cords. This forces the surgeon to rely on the nurse or surgical assistant to operate the device and prevent the probes and cords from breaching the sterile field. To get a reading in surgical settings, the assistant needs to hold heavy, outdated equipment above the sterile field and close to the surgeon’s ear.
With VascuChek’s cordless design, surgeons no longer need to rely on nurses or assistants to assess blood flow. This frees up the nurse to attend to other duties, such as anticipating which instrument the surgeon might need next, monitoring the surgical site, documenting in real time, supporting anesthesia, or communicating with the rest of the team.
Eliminating Sterilization for Enhanced Surgical Workflow
Without VascuChek’s modern probe design, nurses spend significant time sterilizing reusable probes between each patient, adding several additional steps. These reusable probes require collecting, wiping down, packing, and documenting before being routed for processing. VascuChek’s single-use surgical probes incorporate a protective sheath to help eliminate cross-contamination risks in surgical settings. This reduces time spent sterilizing, provides surgical assistants an added level of reassurance, and improves reliability – a new probe for each surgery.
More Reliable Battery Life
In our deep dive into the challenges of traditional Doppler systems – alongside more than 100 of the nation’s top physicians and surgeons – the issue of unreliable vascular Doppler batteries surfaced repeatedly. With outdated systems, nurses or surgical assistants often waste valuable time mid-procedure searching for replacement batteries. VascuChek’s handheld transceiver uses a rechargeable battery system that lasts up to three hours of continuous use on a full charge – eliminating time searching for batteries.
A Highly Intuitive Vascular Doppler
VascuChek’s intuitive and user-friendly design makes it easily trainable – allowing new nurses and surgical assistants to get up to speed quickly. This takes some of the stress off veteran nurses or surgical assistants when it comes to training new team members on how to work with the device, and grants them additional time.
A high-functioning OR team is integral to a safe and efficient operating room. The VascuChek vascular Doppler shows what can be achieved when the design of medical devices places better workflow at the center. And not only a better workflow for surgeons, but better workflow for every team member involved.
Learn More About VascuChek
If you’re just getting started with VascuChek, the best way to learn more about it is directly from us. You can start by contacting us to schedule a virtual demonstration.
Source:
- Norton J, Yule S, Darwood R, et al. Human factors in vascular surgery: a glimpse into the future. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2024;68(3):290-293.