Patients' Perceptions of Importance for Self-Administered Correct Site Surgery Checklist: A Multisite Study

Area of Science:

• Patient safety in surgical procedures.
• Healthcare quality improvement initiatives.

Background:

• Correct site surgery is a critical patient safety concern.
• Patient engagement is increasingly recognized as vital for healthcare outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and validate the association between patient self-administered correct site checklists and their perceptions of importance for safe surgery.
• To assess patient perspectives on their role in preventing surgical errors.

Main Methods:

• A multisite, nonexperimental, quantitative, descriptive study involving 173 adult patients.
• Patients completed a 24-item Likert scale survey before and during surgery.
• Data analyzed using descriptive statistics with STATA 12.

Main Results:

• The majority of participants viewed checklist items positively, emphasizing the importance of active patient engagement in safe surgery.
• A minority of patients considered some items unimportant, expressing reliance on the healthcare team for safety.
• Specific items like "It is on my left or right side" and "check electronic access or copy of imaging with correct name and site" were perceived as less critical by some.

Conclusions:

• Patient participation is validated as important for promoting safe, correct site surgery.
• Engaging patients as an integral part of the healthcare team is necessary to mitigate surgical errors.
• Education and encouragement for patients to voice concerns are essential for enhancing surgical safety.