The Meaning of Intraoperative Errors: Perioperative Nurse Perspectives.

Medical errors involve different health care professionals, are multifaceted, and can occur at the individual practitioner or system level. The conditions for errors vary in the health care environment; some practice areas may be more vulnerable to errors than others. Limited research exists that explores perioperative nursing errors.

Transfer-of-Care Communication: Nursing Best Practices.

The successful and safe transfer of the patient from one phase of care to another is contingent on optimal communication by all team members. Nurses are often in a natural leadership position to improve safe practices during hand overs. A holistic understanding of the patient allows the perioperative nurse the opportunity to identify issues and choose a nursing diagnosis based on key elements of a patient's needs and goals--information that should be relayed during patient transfers.

The personal and professional impact of the future of nursing report.

Perioperative nurses can apply the four key messages outlined in the Institute of Medicine report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health from personal and professional perspectives. Advocating to remove barriers to practice and educating the public about the perioperative nurse's role can help nurses practice to the full extent of their education and training. Nurses can achieve higher levels of education and training by taking advantage of new educational opportunities that offer a more seamless progression to an advanced degree.

Validation of the data elements for the health system domain of the PNDS.

This research study established the data elements for the health system domain in the Perioperative Nursing Data Set. A sample of AORN members were asked to confirm the clarity, necessity, measurability, and accuracy of each proposed data element. As a result of this study, the health system domain contains 114 data elements with definitions.

AORN and University of Michigan School of nursing research alliance.

Research related to perioperative care requires advanced training and is well suited to take place at a research-intensive university. A recent research alliance established between AORN and the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, uses the strengths of both a robust perioperative professional organization and a research-intensive university to make progress toward improving patient safety and transforming the perioperative work environment. Research activities undertaken by this alliance include investigating nurse staffing characteristics and patient outcomes, as well as evaluating the congruence and definitions of data elements contained in AORN's SYNTEGRITY™ Standardized Perioperative Framework.

How perioperative nurses define, attribute causes of, and react to intraoperative nursing errors.

Errors in nursing practice pose a continuing threat to patient safety. A descriptive, correlational study was conducted to examine the definitions, circumstances, and perceived causes of intraoperative nursing errors; reactions of perioperative nurses to intraoperative nursing errors; and the relationships among coping with intraoperative nursing errors, emotional distress, and changes in practice made as a result of error. The results indicate that strategies of accepting responsibility and using self-control are significant predictors of emotional distress.