Gone but not forgotten: the search for the lost surgical specimens: application of quality improvement techniques in reducing medical error...reprinted from L. Slavin, M. Best, and D. Aron, Gone but not forgotten: the search for the lost surgical specimens: application of quality improvement techniques in reducing medical error, Quality Management in Health Care, Vol. 10, No. 1, Copyright 2001 Aspen Publishers, Inc.

A lost surgical specimen prompted an investigation of both the human processes and the systemic factors involved in surgical specimen handling regarding how health care organizations approach medical error prevention and patient safety promotion. Quality improvement techniques and the conceptual err...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Nursing Care Quality Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 50 - 60
Main Authors: Slavin L, Best MA, Aron DC
Format: algorithm pictorial research Journal Article
Published: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Apr2002
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:A lost surgical specimen prompted an investigation of both the human processes and the systemic factors involved in surgical specimen handling regarding how health care organizations approach medical error prevention and patient safety promotion. Quality improvement techniques and the conceptual error model of James Reasons were employed to understand the interaction between the local process of specimen handling and the systemic influences to medical error management. Error management recognizes the inevitability of both individual and systemic error. Through the use of quality improvement techniques and models of error analysis, health care organizations can investigate the error potential of health care delivery and address the human and organizational interaction necessary to improve patient safety and manage medical error. Copyright © 2002 by Aspen Publishers, Inc.