Tips for Avoiding Surgery Errors

Updated on March 3, 2021
Tips for Avoiding Surgery Errors

You’ve heard the horror stories: a surgeon accidentally performs an operation on the wrong patient, or performs the right operation on the wrong part of a patient. Accidents do happen, but surgical errors can have serious repercussions and medical staff should be vigilant in preventing them. Here are some tips for avoiding surgery errors.

Instruct Patients Well

Some mistakes involving surgery can occur even before the operation begins due to miscommunications between medical staff and patients, or a mistake on the patient’s part. Talk to your patients before their surgery and be sure that they understand the procedure, the risks involved, and any steps they must take before the surgery, like refraining from eating the day before or taking a special medicine.

Use the Right Equipment

When preparing to perform a surgery, be sure that you have access to all the equipment you need. It’s very important to choose the right equipment for each individual operation beforehand, right down to the type of operating table you’ll be using. Different tools are specifically designed for different procedures, so do your research before the actual operation to decide which tools will be most effective and help you to avoid error.

Prioritize Training

Many surgical mistakes can be avoided when hospitals implement training programs for their medical staff. These training programs should include simulations that allow surgeons to practice operations in low-stakes settings, mastering technique and ensuring that they are following protocol. Medical staff should also be regularly trained on antitheology protocols, as mistakes in this area can have serious consequences.

Always Verify Information

The most important way to avoid surgical errors is to always verify your information before beginning an operation. Even if you’ve checked before, check one more time to confirm that you are performing the correct operation on the correct area of the correct patient. Surgeons failing to confirm these details is the most common cause of surgical mistakes.

To keep your healthcare facility reliable and reputable, practice these tips for avoiding surgery error. After all, it’s far better to prevent or catch your mistakes before they happen then to deal with the consequences after the fact.