Priority Patient Safety Issues Identified by Perioperative Nurses

Abstract

Much of the work done by perioperative nurses focuses on patient safety. Perioperative nurses are aware that unreported near misses occur every day, and they use that knowledge to prioritize activities to protect the patient. The purpose of this study was to identify the highest priority patient safety issues reported by perioperative RNs. We sent a link to an anonymous electronic survey to all AORN members who had e-mail addresses in AORN's member database. The survey asked respondents to identify top perioperative patient safety issues. We received 3,137 usable responses and identified the 10 highest priority safety issues, including wrong site/procedure/patient surgery, retained surgical items, medication errors, failures in instrument reprocessing, pressure injuries, specimen management errors, surgical fires, perioperative hypothermia, burns from energy devices, and difficult intubation/airway emergencies. Differences were found among practice settings. The information from this study can be used to inform the development of educational programs and the allocation of resources to enhance safe perioperative patient care.

Nurses' Professional Commitment and Its Effect on Patient Safety

“…In addition, Feng, Acord, Cheng, Zeng, and Song (Feng et al, 2011) note that a patient safety culture is influenced by nurse compliance to national goals that focus on patient safety. Steelman, Graling, and Perkhounkova (Steelman, Graling, & Perkhounkova, 2013) suggested that communicating safety related information to hospital nurses improves their nursing practices.…”

Perioperative Nurses’ Work Experience With Robotic Surgery

“…7,8 For example, knowledge and use of a team approach and clinical team skills, which improve with the number of performed surgeries, 9 are essential for the prevention of adverse events and enhancement of patient safety. 10,11 Hence, nurses on the perioperative robotics team must have sufficient special training to perform their extended roles with confidence and provide optimal patient outcomes.…”

Auditing Clinical Practice: Ensuring High Reliability at an Australian Hospital

“…10 The OR is a high-risk area, and communication failure or omissions have been acknowledged as a contributing factor in health careerelated adverse events. 6,11 Throughout the perioperative patient's journey, numerous hand overs between multiple clinicians is common practice. Clinical hand-over audits were introduced to assess the quality of the postoperative hand over from the recipients' perspective.…”

“…Medication practices are identified as the third most prevalent intraoperative risk, 6 and administration is described as the riskiest phase of the procedure. 7 There have been recent changes in medication safety to manage uncertainty and reduce the risk of error.…”