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count? It should be, Where are the sponges? Show me! And surgeons, nurses and
all other stakeholders need to be held accountable.
The Sponge ACCOUNTing System has been in place in hundreds of hospitals
around the country and recently has been successful for a cohort of 30
California hospitals we've worked with. In the last 2 years, they've had zero
retained sponges. The real goal, however, is not just to have zero events, but to
grasp the larger meaning that zero events means zero patient harm. And that
means that together we can be sure nothing is left behind.
OSM
Dr. Gibbs (drgibbs@nothingleftbehind.org), in addition to
being the director of NoThing Left Behind, is a staff surgeon at
the San Francisco VA Medical Center and a clinical professor of
surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.
