Perioperative leaders from Children’s Hospital Boston created an approach that included perioperative staff education, standardized count practices, formal reviews of every count discrepancy and reviews/revisions of count policies to prevent retained foreign objects.
The approach helped the hospital reduce incorrect counts and count discrepancies by 50 percent. In addition, perioperative leaders found the approach helped sustain the improvements over time.
Related Articles on Retained Objects:
Medical Errors at Minnesota Hospitals, Ambulatory Centers Increased in 2011
North Florida Regional Surgeon Disciplined for Retained Foreign Object Case in 2010
