Patient Safety Survey Reveals Surgical Facilities Have Room to Improve

The results from a new patient safety survey taken by nearly 500 surgical facility leaders across the country reveals that many surgery centers have room to improve in their quest to achieve the perfect safety record their patients expect.

Here are a few highlights from the survey, which was published in June by Outpatient Surgery magazine.

Too Many Shortcuts: Almost a third of survey respondents report seeing doctors or other surgical staff taking shortcuts that could impact patient safety. Only 24 percent say they never see anyone on the surgical team taking shortcuts.

Hesitant to Speak Up: Many survey respondents admit to feeling hesitant to speak up when they see something that could compromise patient safety.

Taking Time Outs: Although this highly publicized and recommended practice is designed to improve both staff communication and patient safety, it is still not universally accepted or used at all surgical facilities.

Too Many Never Events: 44 percent of survey respondents say their facility has experienced a never event like a wrong-site surgery.

Arrogant Surgical Teams: Sadly, most doctors, facility managers and nurses consider themselves to be better at their jobs than their co-workers believe they are.

Finger Pointing: When errors occur most facility managers say they focus on learning over blaming. Nurses, however, report a different story.

The survey didn't just reveal patient safety concerns. It also shined a light on what facilities are doing well.  More than 90 percent of survey respondents say that they and others at their facility are actively looking for measurable ways to improve the safety of their patients.

To learn more about the survey findings, read the entire article here.