Chapter 11: Perioperative Safety Introduction

Question 1

Many medical errors occur due to human errors. List the three types of human errors and give an example of each.

Answer 1

1. Skill based - hits wrong control button
2. Situational - distraction, fatigue, stress
3. Knowledge based - misinterprets test result

Question 2

CMS is a government agency charged with regulations for payment. Significant to patient safety is the decision by CMS to impose financial disincentives for selected negative patient care outcomes, resulting from unsafe practices, by refusing to pay for the extra cost of treating those outcomes.
Name a few examples of facility-acquired unsafe patient outcomes that are no longer reimbursable.

Answer 2

Pressure Ulcer stages III and IV
 Falls and trauma
 Surgical site infections (SSI)
 Retained foreign object (RFO)
 Wrong site surgery
 Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

Question 3

CMS wants to emphasize that the financial cost of insufficient patient safety controls be directly borne by facilities deemed responsible.
How can your actions as a perioperative nurse affect patient outcomes, which in turn affect your facility?

Answer 3

It is important to create a culture of safety, know, understand and comply with facility policies, procedures and practices related to safety