Priority patient safety issues identified by perioperative nurses.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Perioperative nursing is critical for patient safety.
• Unreported near misses are common, influencing nurses' prioritization of safety activities.
• Identifying high-priority patient safety issues is essential for improving care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the highest priority patient safety issues as reported by perioperative registered nurses (RNs).
• To inform the development of educational programs and resource allocation for perioperative patient safety.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous electronic survey was distributed to members of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN).
• Respondents were asked to identify top perioperative patient safety concerns.
• 3,137 usable responses were collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

• The 10 highest priority patient safety issues were identified.
• Key issues include wrong-site surgery, retained surgical items, medication errors, and instrument reprocessing failures.
• Other critical issues include pressure injuries, specimen management errors, surgical fires, hypothermia, burns from energy devices, and airway emergencies.
• Significant differences in safety issues were noted across various practice settings.

Conclusions:

• The study highlights critical patient safety challenges in the perioperative setting.
• Findings provide a data-driven foundation for targeted educational interventions.
• Results support strategic resource allocation to enhance perioperative patient safety and reduce adverse events.