III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 482 

Supporting the goals of an annual National Time-Out Day to promote patient 

safety and optimal outcomes in the operating room. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2006 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. LUGAR, and Ms. COLLINS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

JUNE 15, 2006 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals 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 (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; 
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SRES 482 ATS

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 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 
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SRES 482 ATS

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 TimeOut 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, universallyaccepted 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 med-
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SRES 482 ATS

ical 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideal 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. 

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