IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 456 

Supporting the goals and ideals of an annual National Time Out Day to 

promote patient safety and optimal outcomes in the operating room. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2007 

Ms. KAPTUR submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals 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 (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; 


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•HRES 456 IH 

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 members of 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 Wednesday, 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 United States operating rooms; 

Whereas the Senate during the 109th Congress supported a 

National Time Out Day in 2005 and 2006 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 AssoVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:14 Jun 06, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR456.IH HR456

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•HRES 456 IH 

ciation 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, 

joined by coalition partners, celebrated a National Time 

Out Day on June 21, 2006, for the purpose of promoting 

safe medication administration practices; 

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 

will celebrate National Time Out Day on June 20, 2007, 

and has designated each third Wednesday of June thereafter as National Time Out Day, to promote patient safety and optimal outcomes in the operating room by focusing on the reduction of medical errors, fostering better 


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•HRES 456 IH 

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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of an annual 

3 National Time Out Day as designated by the Asso4 ciation of periOperative Registered Nurses for ensur5 ing patient safety and optimal outcomes in the oper6 ating room; and 

7 (2) congratulates perioperative nurses and rep8 resentatives of surgical teams for working together 

9 to protect patient safety during all operative and 

10 other invasive procedures. 

Æ 


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