Patient safety in the operating room - Research Paper Example

In this essay, patient safety in the operating room shall be considered in terms of how safety can be ensures, the effects of denying patients their safety and importance of the promotion of safety in the operating room. What is Patient Safety? Patient safety is an integrated process of ensuring that a patient who visits the operating room for surgery is not put at risk to situations that would harm or worsen the health condition of the patient in any way. Safety of patients in the operating may be jeopardized in several ways including wrong site surgery, wrong medication and leaving foreign material in the bodies of people.

Measures for ensuring safety in the operating room The need to ensure patient safety is indispensible and a basic right of every patient that cannot be undermined in anyway. To achieve safety however, a couple of measures need to be put in place. First of such measures is work experience of practicing surgeons and nurses. The oversee of surgical operations in the operating room is such a complex medical practice that it demands the hands of highly qualified, competent and experienced health professional to undertake.

However, the problem of low staff base, employee turnover and lack of employee retention has led to a situation where most health facilities fall on inexperienced nurses and surgeons to handle cases in the operating room (Dodd, 2003). . ould bring them up to speed with current developments in the surgery fraternity so that they will not in any way lug behind in the jurisdiction of their duties. Another important factor that needs to be put in place to ensure safety in the operating room has to do with communication.

Expects have identify the breakdown of communication and poor communication as serious risk factors for the increased cases of absence of safety in the operating room. For example Jean Nagelkerk, GVSU vice provost for health, registered nurse and family nurse practitioner reports that “a breakdown in communication causes up to 70 percent of errors” (Kopenkoskey, 2011). Safety in the operating room is therefore advocated through the creation of an effective communication system between surgeons, nurses and patients.

Between surgeons and nurses, there must be a team approach that ensures that the team has communicated well among itself and that it is highly aware of what it is going to do even before surgery starts. During team discussions, specific instructions must be given on what each person’s role is going to be like so that the practitioners do not get nervous and naive during the operation. At the time of operation also, it is important that communication goes on among the practitioners especially when need developments on the operation crop up.

After the operation to, communication must go on about the effectiveness of the operation process and how the patient can be helped to recover quickly. Communicating to the patient is also important because the patient needs to be informed of what is expected of him or her in order that he or she does not create situations of complications either during or after the operation. Another important measure for ensuring safety is pointed out