Perioperative Series: Surgical Safety - Patient-Focused

Course overview

Intraoperative interventions, such as incorrectly positioning the patient, can cause injuries and adverse outcomes postoperatively. In the event that injury does occur to the patient during surgery, the signs and symptoms often emerge after the patient leaves the OR. This makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the injury. Typically, OR staff are not made aware that the patient sustained an injury unless they are invited to a root cause analysis meeting, or a supervisor notifies them. While protecting the patient in the OR is a team effort, advocating for patient safety starts with the individual provider. Preventable events similar to the examples discussed in this course occur far too often in the perioperative setting. As providers, we must take personal accountability to protecting and advocating for the surgical patient!