COUNTS IN SURGICAL THEATRE SAFETY

Counts in Surgical Theatre Safety



[Name of the Institute]

Counts in Surgical Theatre Safety

Introduction

Patients can expect safe healthcare therefore the health professionals are required to deliver the quality care. The focus of this assignment views the Swab and Instruments counts. Performing a procedure to count various items to be used during surgery (commonly called a surgical count procedure) provides an assessment of the number of sponges, sharps, swabs, and/or other surgical implements that are present in the sterile surgical field. Surgical count procedures are performed in inpatient and outpatient settings where surgery is performed. The local and national policy about the safety instrument and Swab will be discussed.

Personal Experience and Reflection

There are several operations conducted by the surgeon and his team which are new experiences each time. Sometimes due to some misunderstanding or misinterpretations, some mistakes are made by the team which are known as negligence. In my preofessional life, I went through an experience which could have lead to a negligence case if the mistake was not realized in time. I learned from the experience that when a surgeon is performing an operation, it is most successful when it is an entire team is involved with proper planning. When a single surgeon performs an operation there are chances of greater risk. Through my experience with swab counts, I learned the following factors to avoid risks which I now follow religiously:

The surgeon should always perform a double check of in and out swab count for ensuring that all the swabs are removed.

The surgeon must always have a sufficient number of staff that is trained and experienced.

The small swabs must be replaced by laparotomy pads

The abdomen should be properly checked and searched before the wound is closed.

The Scenario

The incident involved a 69 year old man who was admitted to the hospital for a surgery of repairing a hernia. The whole operation was successfully performed and the patient left the hospital after a day. However, the patient complained of suffering from additional pain. He was unable to return to work and was unable to go to work. It was later determined that the surgeon failed to remove a swab. However, after some negotiation, the patient agrewed not to sue and opted for an operation to remove the swab. This operation was offered to him by the management of the hospital free of cost as to avoid a negligence case.

Discussion of Swab Counts

The swab count is carried out by placing the used swabs in batches of the plastic bags which are sealed and store in a bin. While performing the surgical count nurses should follow facility protocol and orders of the treatment. There are a number of other things which needs to be considered while performing a surgical count. One of the most important practices in performing a surgical count is to count out loud all items required concurrently by surgeons involved in the surgical count procedure (Spry, 2009, 182-196). All the items required for ...