Whether for better or worse, our country is on the verge of major health care reform. In times of rapid change like now, the risk of medical mistakes heightens. According to the Institute of Medicine, an estimated 98,000 hospital patients are killed every year as a direct result of medical malpractice, constituting one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States; surgical mistakes are high among the common causes.
Examples of surgical errors are: mistaken identity, surgery performed on the wrong body part or wrong site or side, receiving the wrong procedure at the correct surgical site, surgical instruments left inside the body after surgery, and unneeded surgery related to misdiagnosis. The best thing you can do to prevent becoming a statistic is take an active role and empower yourself. Use this safe-surgery checklist to help avoid the devastating consequences of becoming a victim:
1. Do you need this surgery and do you need it now? As trustworthy you may be of your doctor, it never hurts to obtain a second and, perhaps, a third opinion. Then, weigh your surgery options and make informed decisions.
2. Upon checking in for surgery, read your ID bracelet. Is all of the information accurate? If not, get it corrected both on the bracelet and in your medical record.
3. Be impolite. Prior to surgery, ask medical professionals who want to touch you if they have just washed their hands. Even go so far as to ask them to wash their hands in your presence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that “Keeping hands clean is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of infection and illness.” Similar sterilization rules apply to medical instruments. For example, stethoscopes should be sterilized with alcohol. If it’s not happening before your very eyes, request it.
4. Prior to surgery, a member of the surgical team should confirm with you and identify the type of procedure you’re having, the site of the surgery on your body, and your consent to have it done. The surgeon should be the one, and the only one, to mark the operative site and do so with a permanent marker-type pen.
5. A pulse oximeter, a medical device that indirectly measures the oxygen saturation of a patient’s blood, should be placed on one of your fingers. When the pulse oximeter is positioned on your finger, ask “What is my oxygen saturation?” to assure someone looks at the oximeter and makes sure it’s functioning.
6. Have you ever had trouble being anesthetized? If yes, inform the anesthesiologist and the surgeon.
7. Do you have any drug allergies? Inform a member of the surgical team and tell them to write it down in your surgical data. Do the same for any other important details regarding your medical history or problems that the surgical team needs to be aware of. Any minor-seeming detail about a patient’s life can result in potentially disastrous surgical errors.
8. Check that the surgical team has your important x-ray files for display in the operating room. This effort helps prevent mistakes such as wrong-organ removal.
9. Begin antibiotic treatment prior to surgery. Studies show that the rate of infection may be reduced by 50% or more if a patient is administered a preventive antibiotic within one hour prior to surgery (the initial cutting). And, double-check that the antibiotic you take is the one your doctor prescribed.
10. Don’t be embarrassed or hesitant to postpone your surgery if there are inaccuracies or things seem helter-skelter in the pre-surgery complex and/or during pre-surgery procedures. Never feel intimidated to question things. It’s your body, and your right.
11. Have an “advocate” – your protector, enforcer, and defender – with you. Ask someone you trust – a friend, relative or a professional patient advocate – to take you to and from the surgery facility, and be with you at the hospital or surgery facility the entire time.
12. Get post-surgery orders explained to you and your advocate not only verbally but also in clearly written take-home instructions. Ask questions if there’s something you don’t understand.
