AORN Position Statement on
| Correct Site Surgery |
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PREAMBLE
Wrong site surgery can and must be prevented.1 Wrong site surgery is a broad term that encompasses all surgical procedures performed on the wrong patient, wrong body part, wrong side of the body, or at the wrong level of the correctly identified anatomic site.2 The Joint Commission considers all wrong site surgeries, regardless of the extent of the procedure or the outcome, to be reviewable sentinel events.
A comprehensive approach is needed in each health care delivery system to prevent wrong site surgery. Procedures and protocols should be developed collaboratively by multidisciplinary teams, including perioperative registered nurses, surgeons, anesthesia care providers, risk managers, and other health care professionals to implement the "Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery."1 As patient advocates, perioperative registered nurses should communicate with all members of the surgical team to verify the correct surgical site. Individual facility policy should clearly delineate the role and responsibility of the physician and other team members in marking and verifying the correct surgical site. Perioperative registered nurses should be key participants in multidisciplinary teams as they develop these procedures and protocols. As patient advocates, perioperative registered nurses have a duty to the public to protect the patient from injury and to safeguard the patient's health, welfare, and safety.3 Although it is the surgeon's responsibility to diagnose a patient's need for surgery and to delineate the surgical site, verifying the correct surgical site at the time of surgery is the responsibility of perioperative registered nurses and every member of the health care team.
POSITION STATEMENT
AORN is dedicated to patient safety. Using suggested risk-prevention strategies for identification and verification of correct patient, surgical site, and procedure will reduce the risk of error. AORN endorses the Joint Commission's "
Editor's note: "Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery" is a trademark of the Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.
References
1. "Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery," Joint Commission http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/UniversalProtocol/ (accessed 24 Dec 2008).
2. The Joint Commission, "Sentinel events," in Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (Oakbrook Terrace, Ill: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2004) SE-3.
3. "AORN explications for perioperative nursing" in Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices (Denver: AORN, Inc, 2008) 633-660.
Other Resources
World Alliance for Patient Safety, "WHO surgical safety checklist and implementation manual," http://www.who.int/patientsafety/safesurgery/ss_checklist/en/index.html (accessed 24 Dec 2008).
Original approved by the House of Delegates, New Orleans, April 2005.
Sunset review: March 2010