klb75

Sorry for the last repeat of the post. I didn't realize it went to the second page. Anyway, I found more statistics on time in the OR. In 10 complex cases nurses devoted on average 35 minutes to counting protocols, which represents 14.5% of operating time. In two-thirds of the cases a total of 17 discrepencies occurred, which significantly delayed the operation (Brigham Women's Hospital, 2006).

The department of Veterans Affairs reported that less than 1% of sponges and other items are in left in surgical patients. A nationwide study reported that 1 in 1500 cases resluted in sponges and other items being left in patients.

tsommer74, According to the Department of Veterans Affairs less than 1% of surgical items are left in patients. In another nationwide study it was reported that 1 in 1500 surgeries resulted in sponges or tools being left in patients. Far too many in my opinion. These errors shouldn't be happening at all. Thanks for the reponse and the question.

Thank you all for the reponses!! I too first discovered this on the TLC channel. Last semester I encountered a woman who had a sponge left in her after a foot surgery and she ended up with a very large wound on her leg that was possibly going to be amputated. It drove me to further research Dr. Gawande's idea. I beleive that if the system can prevent the few mishaps that do occur then it is a system that should be considered.

Hello, My name is Kim and I am a second semester nursing student. I have been browsing the site recently for an assignment I am working on. I have found allnurses to be a great resource for information and have enjoyed reading the postings. My question is: Have you heard about the Safety- Sponge System for counting surgical sponges that is currently being studied by Dr. Gawande? If you have, what do you think? If not, I will briefly tell you about, then please give your opinion. Each surgical sponge comes with an attached bar code that is scanned before and after use to make sure all sponges are accounted for. In addition, the bar code shows up in an x-ray so that if it is miscounted it can be identified and removed promptly. As a green student who has seen the effects of a patient who had a sponge left in her after an ankle surgery, I think this system makes sense and could work quite well. I would love to know what you think. Thank you