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Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

OR Excellence Pre-Registration Ends Wednesday

This Wednesday, Sept. 1, is your last chance to participate in Outpatient Surgery Magazine's OR Excellence 2010 Pre-Registration Contest. There's no...

Researchers Predict Anesthesiologist Shortage, CRNA Surplus

A recent analysis of the anesthesia labor market speculates that a current shortfall of providers across the surgical industry could widen in the ne...

A Change of Mind: Anesthesia, Consciousness and the Brain

The brain works through different processes as it transitions between conscious and unconscious states, a finding that bucks commonly held assumptio...

Archive > June, 2009 Vol. X, No. 6

No Sponge Left Behind

Since everyone's responsible for making sure no surgical sponges are left behind, get everyone involved.

Deborah Cooksey, RN, MS, CNOR

Who's responsible for surgical counts at your facility? The surgeon? The nurse conducting the count? Others in the room? This accountability question is the one we recently set out to answer. Many nurses may still have the impression that the surgeon is solely responsible for the outcome of the counts. But the legal climate surrounding retained foreign objects has changed over the last few years. The surgeon as "captain of the ship" doctrine is gone. The nurse conducting the count, as well as others in the room, are now just as accountable as the surgeon. We spent 5 months updating our surgical count policy. As you'll see in this recap of the keys to our success, the final product uses our EMR to promote patient safety and addresses surgical sponges placed as packing, as well as other challenges your surgical teams face every day.

Categories: Safety
Keywords:
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Products In This Issue
Precision with no incision.

Stryker Endoscopy

A symbol of quality.

The Joint Commission

Only one stands out.

Teleflex Medical

Case closed.

SurgiCount Medical

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