Surgery patients experience an average of four to five procedural mistakes — half of which cause real harm — during their post-operative recovery period, according to a UK study conducted at Imperial College London and a Chicago Tribune report.
Hospital safety researchers at the college monitored all patients at a "large gastro-intestinal surgery center" over the course of two years. The study found that failures in the "processes" of care were common and included processes such as administering drugs, giving patients instructions and delivering test results.
According to the study, 51 percent of the issues led to serious problems. On average, the patients stayed in the hospital for 11 days, and the researchers made daily observations to monitor how well medical staff followed standard procedures.
The team identified 352 mistakes, 256 of which they said were due to "process failures."
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Hospital safety researchers at the college monitored all patients at a "large gastro-intestinal surgery center" over the course of two years. The study found that failures in the "processes" of care were common and included processes such as administering drugs, giving patients instructions and delivering test results.
According to the study, 51 percent of the issues led to serious problems. On average, the patients stayed in the hospital for 11 days, and the researchers made daily observations to monitor how well medical staff followed standard procedures.
The team identified 352 mistakes, 256 of which they said were due to "process failures."
Related Articles on Quality:
Study: Physicians Fail to Follow Up on Test Results
Patient Safety Tool: Scrub the Hub Posters
Nurses Shown to Be Accurate Judges of Hospital Quality
