What’s inside:
Never events in nursing, are preventable errors that can have devastating consequences. This blog will look at mitigating the risks involved in supply chain management at the point of care.
This blog looks at:
- Understanding the Risks of Supply Chain Errors in the OR
- Impact of Supply Chain Errors on Patient Safety and Outcomes
- Implementing AI-Driven Solutions in the OR for Safer Supply Management
Operating rooms (OR) are high-risk environments where even minor errors can have severe consequences. That’s why having good systems and process in place to support the nursing team is so crucial. Smart providers are leveraging AI technology to mitigate never events in nursing, specifically in the perioperative team.
Understanding the Risks of Supply Chain Errors in the OR
Supply chain errors in the operating room (OR) can have significant consequences for patient safety and outcomes.
Types of surgical supply errors that happen in OR and procedural rooms:
- Stockouts: When a necessary item is not available or cannot be located.
- Expired Items: When items are used beyond their expiration date.
- Recalled Items: When a recalled item is inadvertently used in surgery.
- Wrong Items: When incorrect or incompatible items are used
- Documentation: When items consumed by a patient are not recorded on medical records, or are mis-recorded – so that the patient cannot be traced for recall purposes.
Never events in nursing include a range of high-risk mistakes that impact patient safety.
Impact of Supply Chain Errors on Patient Safety and Outcomes
Surgical supply errors can have severe consequences for patient safety and outcomes. These errors can lead to:
- Delayed Procedures: When surgical supplies are missing or unavailable, procedures can be delayed. This can cause discomfort, anxiety, and increase the risk of complications for patients. Whether the surgery is elective or emergency, healthcare facilities need to ensure supply meets demand to support top quality healthcare delivery.
- Complications: Using expired or incorrect items can increase the risk of infections, allergic reactions, and other adverse events which can lead to serious patient safety risks. Poor expiry management is a completely preventable error that causes never events in nursing procedures.
- Recall Errors: Perioperative documentation is a vital element of patient safety. If a recall notice arrives and the hospital is unable to trace every patient who received the recalled product, then the patient is put at risk. Accurate records support safe, compliant practice.
These negative consequences highlight the importance of effective supply chain management in the OR to ensure patient safety and minimize the risk of Never Events.
Implementing AI-Driven Solutions in the OR for Safer Supply Management
AI is providing a safety net in the operating room, taking the pressure off nurses and enhancing patient safety. The increase speed and accuracy of product management in surgery reduces never events in nursing and supports improved organizational compliance.
Let’s look at three ways that artificial intelligence is supporting patient safety in surgery.
SUPPLY AVAILABILITY: AI can improve OR supply chain management by automating inventory processes and preventing risky practice, such as stockouts. By continuously monitoring inventory levels and using predictive analytics to forecast future needs, AI can ensure that the right items are available at the right time. This ensures a balanced inventory is at hand and reduces the risk of delays and complications during procedures.
EXPIRY MANAGEMENT: Furthermore, AI can automate expiry management, flagging up items that are due to expire so that they can be utilized prior to expiration. Effective expiry management automation results in zero items remaining in stock. Even so it’s best to make a final check at the point of care and new point of use systems are able to provide a safety net for nurses by providing pre consumption safety alerts for recalled or expired items. This final safety check prevents never events in nursing and ensures full organizational compliance with regulations and standards.
SOLID DOCUMENTATION: The importance of full and complete surgical supply records is clear, but far too many medical devices, implants and consumables end up being keyed in, leading to errors. In addition, items that are problematic to record can und up unrecorded. New point of use system using AI vision are able to automatically record full details of every item used in surgery, ensuring full and compliant medical records that prevent never events in nursing records.
AI technology is transforming OR supply chain management and significantly reduces the risk of never events in nursing.
By implementing AI-driven solutions, healthcare facilities can improve patient safety, enhance operational efficiency, and achieve better outcomes.
As AI technology continues to evolve, it is likely to play an even more critical role in preventing never events in OR and ensuring the highest quality of care for patients.
If you want to improve surgical supply safety in surgery and prevent never events in nursing – contact us to discuss the role of AI in boosting your patient safety.
