Journal of patient safety
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Journal of patient safety · Dec 2010
Survey of physician knowledge and counseling practices regarding acetaminophen.
To assess physician knowledge regarding acetaminophen dosing, toxicity, and recognition of acetaminophen-containing products and counseling practices when prescribing acetaminophen-containing medications. ⋯ Many physicians are unaware of acetaminophen dosing and toxicity issues and have some difficulty identifying acetaminophen-containing products. Information provided by physicians when prescribing acetaminophen products was limited. How this may contribute to unintentional acetaminophen overdose is unclear but should raise concern. These results reinforce the importance of public awareness, patient counseling, and physician education regarding acetaminophen toxicity issues.
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Journal of patient safety · Dec 2010
Patient participation in surgical site marking: can this be an additional tool to help avoid wrong-site surgery?
Wrong-site surgery is defined as an operation conducted at the wrong site, on the wrong person, or resulting in the wrong procedure. Since 1993, more than 2200 wrong-site surgeries have been reported by the National Practitioner Data Base. A 2005 survey reported, 5.6% of replying academy fellows encountered a wrong-site surgery incident. Multiple interventions have been since suggested for prevention of these occurrences by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. ⋯ Patient's ability to be involved in this preventative measure is independent of most demographic variables previously thought to be significant. However, in view of the 68.2% compliance, patient involvement in surgical site marking is unreliable and may not help in decreasing the chances of wrong-site surgery.