Perceptions of a Surgical Team About the Ethical and Legal Responsibilities of Forgetting Foreign Bodies in Patient Bodies and Other Errors

Abstract

Background: Retained surgical items (RSIs) represent a real and ongoing problem, but it is preventable. Its real incidence is unknown because of underreporting resulting from the fear of lawsuits for medical errors. This study aimed to describe the perception of the members of a surgical team about their ethical and legal responsibilities related to medical errors, specifically concerning the presence of RSIs. Methods: This qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative study focused on the perceptions of the members of a surgical team on the ethical and legal problems they may face because of the presence of RSIs. Continuous saturation sampling was performed by interviewing 17 professional members of the surgical team. Atlas Ti 8.0® program was used for analyzing the data obtained. It traced the categories by means of content analysis of the perceptions and practices during possible ethical and legal responsibilities because of medical errors. Results: The interviewees were conflicted between complicity and justice, as it is a duty to report events or actions that put the lives of surgical patients at risk.Conclusions: The lack of awareness about the rules and believing that human errors are inevitable lead to normalizing errors, which does not allow professionals to face the risk and, therefore, to avoid it.