Wrong-site surgery is devastating for the patient, the staff who worked the case and the surgeon who made the incorrect cut. Still, the avoidable error remains the third most reported sentinel event related to perioperative services, according to Deborah Spratt, MPA, BSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, CHL, an independent perioperative consultant based in Rochester, N.Y. Ms. Spratt is incredulous that wrong-site surgery still occurs, despite implementation of global checklists, safety protocols and education initiatives aimed at preventing it. “In 2006, the New York State Department of Health developed a protocol addressing and identifying wrong-site surgery as a top priority,” she says. “It’s 2022, and we’re still having the same conversations. You’d think we would have solved the problem by now.”
There are a few key things that can prevent this never event from occurring — once and for all.