vary from nurse to nurse and from room to room. AORN recommends
a 2-person count involving the OR circulator and an audible count.
Separate items and point them out while audibly counting. "Pointing
helps you discriminate the items being counted — what you have and
haven't counted," says Ms. Wood. Record items that are placed in the
wound or cavity as you place and remove them.
• Participate in performance-improvement activities. We know
humans will make errors when counting, says Ms. Wood, so you
should develop systems that reduce the risk of that human error.
Focus on process improvement rather than blaming individuals when
a retained item or near miss (found missing sponge on X-ray) occurs,
and on how you can prevent it in the future.
OSM
6 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
"When our brains switch between
counting and remembering,
we make transcription errors."
— AORN's Amber Wood, MSN, RN, CNOR, CIC, FAPIC
