The Legal Examiner Affiliate Network The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner search instagram avvo phone envelope checkmark mail-reply spinner error close The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner
Skip to main content

Deaths on hospital beds and in operating rooms are inevitable. However, according to researchers from Harvard, operating room deaths and complications are decreased by 1/3 when nurses and doctors follow a proper surgical check-list. The study, consisting of eight hospitals, exhibited a drop in the number of medical complications from 11% to 7%, while deaths lowered from 1.5% to 0.8% upon following the checklist.

A surgical checklist does not cause unnecessary delays and has been shown to decrease medical mistakes that come from hastened procedures within operating rooms. Here are some of the steps the check list included:

· Confirming that an anaesthesia safety check was conducted

· Making sure surgical team members have met each other

· Discussing any concerns with regards to the procedure or patient

· Confirming that no surgical tools were left behind inside the patient

Obviously, it’s crucial for doctors, nurses, and other surgical staff to practice great care inside the operating room as just one mistake could lead to complications and even death. If you or a loved one have reason to believe this may have occurred during a surgery, then you should consult with an attorney competent in such areas as you be eligible to a surgical malpractice lawsuit.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, and KY.

bm

One Comment

  1. Gravatar for Chrissie Cole
    Chrissie Cole

    I wrote a similar story in January and I was a little surprised as the concept seems like common sense to me. Hopefully these studies help to make safety checklists a standard part of surgical procedures.

    My story is here: http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/simple-surgical-checklist-saves-lives.aspx?googleid=255354

Comments for this article are closed.