The Surgical Count in Perioperative Nursing Research Paper

The Surgical Count in Perioperative Nursing - Research Paper Example This may sound strange but evidence of research and studies proved that incidence of retained sponges and instruments (RSI) happen. This paper presents the observed conformity of evidence-based practice on surgical counts procedure with respect to applied nursing research, taking into consideration the observations and experiences I earned during my actual clinical exposure in a healthcare facility’s operating room (OR) setting where surgical procedure is done. It aims to identify any observed flaws in the procedure base on my personal observation and to determine the common causes of discrepancies in surgical counts in spite of the strict adherence to a standardized guideline adaptable in international surgical settings. To begin with, surgical counts, according to Spry (2005, p. 168), is the â€Å"counting of sponges, sharps such as blades and needles, and instruments that are opened and delivered to the field for use during surgery.† The International Federation of P erioperative Nurses (IFPN n.d.) provided the basis for the surgical count practice in order to promote safe, quality perioperative patient care internationally, that is intended to standardize sponge, sharp and instrument counts and includes basic principles as guidelines adaptable in surgical settings internationally. The certified surgical technologist and the circulator (circulating nurse) are responsible in the proper performance of surgical count (Association of Surgical Technologists 2006), but according to Belton and Berter (2004), either a surgical technician or a registered nurse can fill the scrub nurse role in performing the surgical count after surgical hand scrub and aseptically donned a surgical gown and gloves. The surgical count is done to ensure that all items used during the surgical procedure are removed and can be accounted for completion of the procedure (Hamlin, Richardson-Tench, & Davies 2009, p. 88). All surgical items delivered to the sterile field prior to the incision and during the actual surgery are reconciled for completeness to the inventoried items after the end of the surgery (Spry 2005, p. 168). Moreover, the surgical count plays a vital role in enabling the perioperative practitioner and surgical team to enhance the patient’s safety (Rothrock 2002). Rothrock emphasized that surgical items used by the surgical team in performing invasive procedures are foreign bodies to the patient and must be accounted for at all times to prevent retention and injury to the patient. The International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (2009) or IFPN promulgated the general guidelines in surgical count covering surgical count standards as to general criteria, sponge count, sharp count, instrument count, documentation, and count discrepancies. This guideline established by the IFPN (n.d.) was conformed by the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses (ACORN), Association for Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN), National Association of Theatre Nurses (NATN), Operating Room Nurses Association of Canada (ORNAC), and South African Theatre Nurse (SATS). In spite of the crucial adherence to standardized surgical count procedure, there were evidences showing that discrepancies exist. According to Greenberg, Regenbogen, Lipsitz, Diaz-Flores, and Gawande (2008), â€Å"one in 8 surgical cases involves a surgical discrepancy in the count; the majority of which were unaccounted-for sponges and instruments, representing potential retained sponges and instruments.† In the report of amednews staff Kevin B. O’Reilly (September 2008), he stated that â€Å"While cases of retained foreign objects are rare, discrepancies in counts happen in 13% of surgeries, according to an August Annals of Surgery study.† O’Reilly (2008), as he cited the Annals of Surgery

Ethnic group of elderly people Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethnic group of elderly people - Research Paper Example The research aims to collect data from an ethnic group of elderly people highlighted the cultural patterns among which they were living their life. The methodology employed was participant observation and interview method by the researcher and the mode of research was ethnographic research method. The researcher had to take informed consent and establish rapport with the participants of the study to undertake the research process. The data collected from the researcher showed the type of life spent by the subject in the old home and their values, beliefs and life styles. It was found out that they were strongly attached with each other and had a good sense of belonging with spending their life according to their religious and cultural background. The research gives a valuable insight into the life of elderly people which can be used to study the cultural patterns of this ethnic group. It is expected that the study would prove to be useful for the future researchers as well who would like to study the same topic. The ethnic group chosen for the research is elderly people living in the old homes. The mode of research was participant observation as well as in-depth interviews were also being conducted to obtain additional information about the subjects of the study. The topic chosen for the ethnographic research is the nature of life spent at old homes by elderly people. Also the purpose of the research was to gain significant insights about their life styles as manifested by their appearance, interaction with peers and other things. The reason for the selection of this topic was to conduct research in a significant area that was related to a segment of a society that was generally neglected and needed attention. Therefore, the study was focused on elderly people to understand their issues and concerns that they had about the society and also to make their situation better by making themselves heard by others in the community. As the research tools used to collect data were participant observation method and interview method, it was necessary to establish rapport with the subjects of the study firstly before conducting the actual research. Another ethical consideration was taking consent of the participants to use them as subjects of the study which was enabled by asking them about their willingness to take part in the study. The informed consent was taken from the old home’s management staff to use the residents as the participants of the study. The permission was granted and 15 elderly people were used for the research by asking them individually about their willingness to participate in the research process. The ages of elderly people were from 75- 90 and both men and women were included in the research sample. In order to establish rapport with the participants, an effort was done on making them open up and take part in discussion with the researcher who had to meet them frequently and engage in friendly conversation with the aged people. The researcher asked about their general well-being and showed concern for them which made the elderly take the researcher as a friendly person with whom they could share their personal feelings and thoughts. In order to proceed with the research process, the researcher constantly met with the elderly people for a period of two weeks on regular basis. The researcher spent two to three hours with them daily and observed the type of life they spend in old home. The interviews were taken from the participants occasionally to synthesize with the information taken from the participants’ observation. Main Discussion The research was undertaken on elderly ethnic group by means of interview and participant observation method. The concepts of anthropology applied on this research are ethnicity, culture and race. Ethnicity implies a group of people living in the same