Patient Safety and Surgical Counts Flashcards
6 cards from real Certified Surgical Technologist practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Patient Safety and Surgical Counts flashcards as text
The Universal Protocol for preventing wrong-site surgery was established by which organization?
Answer: The Joint Commission
The Joint Commission introduced the Universal Protocol in 2004 to prevent wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-person surgery.
What three elements does the surgical 'time-out' verify before incision?
Answer: Patient identity, correct site, and correct procedure
The time-out confirms the correct patient, correct surgical site, and correct procedure to prevent sentinel events before the incision is made.
The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is divided into how many phases?
Answer: Three
The WHO checklist has three phases: Sign In (before anesthesia), Time Out (before incision), and Sign Out (before patient leaves OR).
Surgical site marking should be performed by:
Answer: The operating surgeon before the procedure
The performing surgeon is responsible for marking the operative site before the procedure, ideally with patient involvement while the patient is awake.
In OR fire prevention, the 'fire triangle' consists of an ignition source, an oxidizer, and:
Answer: Fuel
The fire triangle requires an ignition source (ESU, laser), an oxidizer (O₂, N₂O), and a fuel (drapes, alcohol preps, patient hair) — removing any one element prevents fire.
A 'never event' in perioperative care is best described as:
Answer: A serious, largely preventable adverse event that should never occur
Never events are serious, preventable patient safety incidents — such as retained surgical items or wrong-site surgery — that should be eliminated with proper protocols.