How One Doctor’s ‘Silly’ Scrub Cap Is Improving Hospital Safety Around The World

He was initially mocked by his peers for naming his scrub cap but fast forward to the present, Dr. Rob Hackett, an Australian anesthetist, is helping change hospital safety for the better – in many countries across the globe.

“There were some snide remarks, like ‘can’t you remember your name?’” shared Dr. Hackett said. As it turns out, his simple idea is actually a stroke of genius and it has since become a trend among many healthcare practitioners. Now many are praising him for it.

In an interview with BoredPanda, Dr, Hackett said:

“The #TheatreCapChallenge is an initiative from the Patient Safe Network in response to concerns about how easily avoidable mistakes and poor communication are contributing to rising adverse events for our patients.

“It has been adopted around the world with studies from the US and UK demonstrating how this simple idea can decrease human errors in healthcare.”

Now a lot of professionals are joining Hackett’s crusade, taking their selfies, wearing their own caps with names, and posting the photos online using the #TheatreCapChallenge hashtag. Many of them believe that such caps can be the difference between life and dea th situations in the operating theatre.

According to Dr. Hackett, his simple solution was inspired by a firsthand experience.

“I went to a cardiac arrest in a theatre where there were about 20 people in the room. I struggled to even ask to be passed some gloves because the person I was pointing to thought I was pointing to the person behind them.

“It’s so much easier to coordinate when you know everyone’s names. It’s great for camaraderie and it’s great for patients as well.”

He likewise added:

“It’s been great interacting with a networked team of passionate individuals from all over the world.

“They’re constantly generating data. UK studies have shown increased name recall amongst staff from 42 to 85%, increased name and role introductions during the surgical safety checklist from 38 to 90%. Simulation studies at Stanford University in the US demonstrated greatly increased communication and theatre efficiency.”

On top of that, the named scrub caps reduce hospital expenses and even help save the environment.

As the doctor pointed out:

“A 20-theatre hospital will discard over 100,000 disposable caps every year. The caps are made from viscose – a substance whose production is particularly harmful to the environment.

“A hospital this size may spend somewhere in the region of $10,000 every year on disposable caps.”

To know more about the campaign, you can go check out Dr. Rob Hackett on Twitter.