Clinical Director Vanessa Tobias, RN.
Implementing such a policy can be "difficult at first," adds another
4 9
J U LY 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
The Joint Commission's Universal
Protocol explicitly spells out the who,
what, when, where and why of surgical
site marking, the best defense you have
against wrong-site surgery. But our sur-
vey of more than 550 surgical facility
leaders shows not everyone is complying
with the recommendations.
Who in your facility is/are responsible
for marking surgical sites?
• Operating surgeon 80.6%
• Pre-op nurse 2.5%
• OR nurse 0.7%
• Anesthesia provider 0.2%
• Other or a combination
of people 16.0%
Which type of mark do you use
to identify surgical sites?
• Surgeon's initials 56.1%
• It varies, depending
on the surgeon 10.7%
• "Yes" 9.6%
• "X" 4.3%
• A line representing the
proposed incision 4.0%
• Dots 1.4%
• Other 13.9%
Are your marking methods and
marks standardized for all cases?
Yes 85.5%
No 14.5%
Do patients actively participate
in your site-marking process?
Yes 95.7%
No 4.4%
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery Magazine
Reader Survey, June 2015, n=556
ACCORDING TO PROTOCOL?
Survey Shows Site-Marking
Compliance Far From Universal
