Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Going Green for the Greater Good - March 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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1 0 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 0 C rack open a pack of sponges and count them before and after the procedure to make sure the same num- ber that go into the patient also come out before the surgeon sews up the incision. Seems like a simple enough process. So why do sponges account for upwards of 70% of all retained surgical items? Perhaps because most retained sponges occur after incorrect manual counts staff assumed were accurate. "There's always the possibility of the Swiss cheese effect — errors can occur even when several layers of preventative measures are in place," says Deb Hedrick, BSN, MA, RN, CSSM, NEA-BC, director of perioperative services at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Counts Aren't Always Correct Barcode scanning and RFID detection help to make sure no sponge is left behind. Daniel Cook | Editor-in-Chief • HIGH-TECH HELP Platforms designed to prevent retained objects should augment manual counts, not replace them. Pamela Bevelhymer, RN, BSN, CNOR

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