Question

Which organization recognizes patient safety as being an item of the highest priority and strongly urges individual hospitals and health care organizations to take all reasonable measures to prevent the retention of foreign bodies in the surgical wound?

1) World Health Organization
2) American Medical Association
3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4) Food and Drug Administration

Answer 1

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the organization that puts a high priority on patient safety to prevent foreign bodies from being retained in surgical wounds, promoting a 'safe surgery' checklist that has been effective in decreasing complications.

Step-by-step explanation:

The organization that recognizes patient safety as a top priority and strongly urges health care organizations to prevent the retention of foreign bodies in surgical wounds is the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has developed a 19-point 'safe surgery' checklist that was tested internationally, including in the United States, which resulted in a reduction of postsurgical complications and deaths.

Dr. Gawande, a surgeon with expertise in medical complications, collaborated with the WHO to create this checklist to enhance surgical safety. The WHO's approach, which encapsulates various aspects of health care, including practices like the 'SAFE' initiative for preventing trachoma, demonstrates its holistic commitment to improving patient outcomes and health care procedures globally.

Hospitals and their staff, as end-users, are ultimately responsible for following the protocols set forth by organizations such as the WHO, and they can be held accountable for protocol breaches that result in patient harm. Similarly, the government and other agencies like the FDA play a role in ensuring that medical equipment and protocols adhere to strict safety standards.