The Implementation of the Surgical Pause in Selected Private Healthcare Institutions in Gauteng

Purpose:

The purpose of this presentation is to share with you how poor compliance to the implementation of the surgical pause was addressed through the action research cycles to ensure patient safety.

Methods:

Quantitative research was used to evidence of the number of correctly implemented surgical pause checklists by the surgical teams.   Qualitative research was used to discover and understand the reasons why surgical pause was not implemented (Brink, van der Walt and van Rensburg, 2012).

Stringer’s action research routine of LOOK, THINK and ACT was followed to reach the objectives (Bless, Higson-Smith and Sithole, 2013). The population included all surgical teams in the selected private health care institution in South Africa.

Non-probability convenience sampling was utilized due to time constraints and the availability of surgical procedures.

The implementation of the surgical pause was observed for 37 surgical teams.  The reasons for not implementing the surgical pause were assessed using an open-ended questionnaire.  From the data obtained a participative action plan was formulated, implemented and evaluated to address the poor compliance to the implementation of the surgical pause.  Recommendations were made for practice, education and future research.  

Results:

All the steps of the surgical pause are not implemented; therefore the implementation of the surgical pause is not compliant with the specific criteria. 

The majority of the thirty-three participants of the research study said that the following is the major factors that influence surgical pause compliance: Time and workload (19), Habit and forget (11), Lack of knowledge (8) and Intimidation of surgeons (6).

After the implementation of the participative action plan adherence to the implementation of the surgical pause significantly improve.

Conclusion:

Wrong site surgery can be a shocking experience for the patient and have a destructive impact on the surgical team. Implementation of the surgical pause is vital for patient safety. Implementation of a participative action plan to improve adherence to the implementation of the surgical pause significantly improve is effective.