In 2017, when the #TheatreCapChallenge was created by the PatientSafe Network in response to concerns about how mistakes and poor communications are contributing to rising adverse events for patients, Australian anaesthetist Dr. Rob Hackett started wearing a scrub cap with his name on it – “Rob Anaesthetist.”
The initiative has been adopted around the world with studies showing how this simple idea can decrease human errors in healthcare. Today, it’s becoming a trend worldwide and many medical professionals are demonstrating their support and involvement in the challenge by sharing their selfies with their own caps on social media.
They wanted to prove that having their names on their caps can save vital seconds in life and death situations. It can reduce delays and misidentification that happen when medical staff can’t remember or
can’t recognize the names of their colleagues in the operating theatre.
“I went to a cardiac arrest in a theatre where there were about 20 people in the room,” Dr. Hackett told Bored Panda. “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.”
