Ways To Reduce Surgical Errors in a Hospital

Updated on July 27, 2022
Ways To Reduce Surgical Errors in a Hospital

All patients undergoing a surgical procedure will sign a form that lets them know about the various risks. While medical surgery has come quite a long way, incidents still happen. Patients must remain careful. Many people don’t realize the countless factors that contribute to a successful surgery. One missed factor could cause a surgical error. Keep reading for some ways to help reduce surgical errors in a hospital.

Surgical Instruments

Even when you have the best surgery team working on a patient, errors can still occur due to faulty surgical devices and instruments. Not all surgical devices are equal, and some have lesser quality than others. A low-quality instrument can break and lead to an unsuccessful operation, harming a patient.

Every surgeon should have access to the best possible surgical instruments their hospital can provide. A hospital may need to find a new surgical instrument supplier if their devices break or malfunction during operations.

Consider All Factors

Many surgical errors happen due to a variety of reasons that are out of a surgeon’s control. However, surgeons are usually the first to receive the blame and shame when an error occurs. While those responsible should take accountability, hospitals must ask if the error occurred due to other reasons. You must consider all the contributing factors and use that information to rectify the issues, which will help reduce surgical errors in the hospital.

Patient Safety Checks

While every hospital does patient safety checks, they should not be done haphazardly. When you work the same job for years, you may start to let up the slack and not be as astute as you were in the beginning. However, in a field as critical and serious as healthcare, professionals must do their patient safety checks with the utmost attention each time. It may seem tiresome or time-wasting, but it is a vital aspect that contributes to the health and safety of a patient.

Promote Collaboration

All of us can benefit from a second pair of eyes, which is why it is so helpful for hospitals to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. This can be the one thing that stops an error from occurring. However, in a hospital, there is a sort of hierarchy that can make speaking up more difficult. Promoting collaboration by making it easier and less intimidating among various healthcare professionals within the hospital will do wonders in preventing errors.