1. A nurse-led approach to developing and implementing a collaborative count policy
- Author
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Elizabeth Norton, Jennifer Gedney, Anne J. Micheli, and Tiffin M. Felkerson
- Subjects
Medical Errors ,business.industry ,Task force ,Best practice ,MEDLINE ,Nurses ,Surgical procedures ,Foreign Bodies ,Surgical Instruments ,Corporation ,Pediatrics ,Child health ,Medical–Surgical Nursing ,Patient safety ,Nurse led ,Nursing ,Needles ,Perioperative Nursing ,Surgical Procedures, Operative ,Practice Guidelines as Topic ,Medicine ,Humans ,Patient Safety ,business - Abstract
During the 2007 meeting of the Child Health Corporation of America Operating Room Director's Forum, members identified two major discrepancies in surgical count policies among the member hospitals: variations for instrument counts in pediatrics and exceptions to radiographic verification when needle counts were incorrect. The group agreed to collaboratively develop a pediatric count policy based on directors' expertise and current literature to help improve count practices. The task force members reviewed the literature as well as count policies from 30 member hospitals to identify and combine best practices and to create a single, standardized count policy. The project exemplifies a successful nurse-led, national group effort. The outcome is a policy that represents best practice in pediatrics and is a first step toward future opportunities to improve patient safety.
- Published
- 2011