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Every time Monique Hodges glances at the electronic staffing assignment board in the Operating Room (OR) and sees an assortment of staff pet photographs on display, she can't help but smile.
"It's a real morale-booster," said Hodges, OR lead facilitator, whose desk is located across from the board. "It's refreshing to look at. It brightens people's spirits."
Each day, OR staff members rely on a large electronic board, displayed on a flat-screen TV in the OR, for their patient assignments. As shifts rotate throughout the day, the board gets updated by authorized users to reflect any changes. In the past, while assignments were being edited and finalized, the board would either be turned off temporarily or a standard screen saver image would appear.
About six months ago, Theresa Jasset, MSM, RN, CNOR, program director for Perioperative Nursing Informatics, thought it would be fun to post a photo of her sister's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Belle, on the board during the screen assignment downtime. She learned how to upload the photo to the system, and within five minutes of adding it, she was receiving questions from staff asking whose dog was in the spotlight.
"Staff started to ask if they could put photos of their pets on display as well," Jasset said. "It's something that really caught on. I've been enjoying this as much as others do."
Since that time, Jasset has been updating the board with new photos on a weekly basis. In order to accommodate the dozens of requests she receives each month, she features a collage of anywhere from two to four pet photos at a time.
Typically, the OR is a high-stress and fast-paced place. Jasset is hopeful the pet photos have stimulated positive, friendly, more relaxed conversations in the OR.
Intrigued about the pet board idea, Simon Talbot, MD, plastic surgeon and director of Upper Extremity Transplantation at BWH, recently submitted a photo of his cat, Post-It, for the display. He said how great it is to see so many staffers from the OR contribute.
"It's impossible not to smile when you see all of these great pets," Talbot said. "It brings the whole team together."
Since the photos are not labeled with any details, Jasset said staff members enjoy trying to guess whose dog, cat, horse or other type of animal is being featured.
Laura Murphy, an OR surgical technician, says she looks forward to taking a second or two out of her day to see whose pets are getting their 15 seconds of fame.
"I love the variety of pets on display," Murphy said. "Right now, I'm trying to figure out whose fish photo is up on the board."