Enhancing Clarity and Patient Safety: Evaluating the Inclusion of Laterality in Orthopaedic Outpatient Correspondence in Galway, Ireland.
| Autor: | Younis A; Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Galway, Galway, IRL. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Cureus [Cureus] 2024 May 21; Vol. 16 (5), pp. e60782. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 21 (Print Publication: 2024). |
| DOI: | 10.7759/cureus.60782 |
| Abstrakt: | Background In medical documentation, accurate mention of laterality, whether a condition or treatment pertains to the left or the right side of the body, is critical for avoiding errors like wrong-site surgeries, which can have severe repercussions. This study aims to assess compliance regarding the mention of laterality in outpatient clinic letters at Galway University Hospital. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Galway University Hospital from February to August. We reviewed outpatient letters in the Orthopaedic Department. The Fisher exact and Chi-square tests were employed to observe the association between the levels of practitioners and laterality. Results A total of 278 outpatient letters from 37 practitioners in one week were analyzed. The overall laterality rate was 65.1%. It was observed that there was a male predominance in the workforce (31; 83.8%). Conclusion In conclusion, our study revealed satisfactory improvement in the prevalence of mentioning laterality among healthcare providers. It is recommended that educational sessions and re-auditing be carried out to enhance the quality of care. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. (Copyright © 2024, Younis et al.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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