Right vs. Left

Reading the subject of this post, your mind might instantaneously bring up political images and wonder how I might pit one against the other. But I will not. Instead, I thought I’d share a little about an article I just read – you can read it here.

If you don’t have time to read the article, I’m happy to give you a synopsis: Rhode Island Hospital – 3 brain surgeries – wrong side of brain. In the article, the Director of Health at the hospital expressed his concern and then stated, “While the hospital has made improvements in the operating room, they have not extended these changes to the rest of the hospital.” To what degree must changes be made in order for a neurosurgeon to know his/her right from left - or more specifically, the right and left of a patient on an operating table?

Further, the article indicates two of the patients were okay after the wrong-sided surgery – which begs a couple of questions: What exactly did the neurosurgeon do on the wrong side of the brain – just haphazardly poke around? And, at what point did they realize the error? “Mrs. Smith, your surgery went better than expected, we accomplished all we needed to – what’s this? Black marker dashes on the left side of your head? Uh oh.”

The article further states, “In addition to the fine, the state ordered the hospital to develop a neurosurgery checklist that includes information about the location of the surgery…, and to put in place a plan to train staff on the new checklist.” I’m sure these people ordinarily do great work, but what might a checklist look like to make sure you are operating on the correct side of a brain?

REMINDER: Today you are operating on the LEFT SIDE of Mr. Smith’s brain.

1. Do you see the patient’s head (circle one, not the head – to clarify, circle ‘yes’ or ‘no’)? Yes No.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: Assuming you answered ‘yes’ to question 1, face the patient nose to nose – your right side is directly in front of his left side, and vice versa. Please mark the side of the patient’s head which is directly in front of your right side.

NOTE: Although you have completed medical school and an additional 6-8 years of residency, new hospital policy stipulates you must confirm your choice with one of our elderly volunteers.

Imagine the dinner conversation: “So how was your day honey?” “Well, I operated on the wrong side of someone’s brain today, you?” “Fine.” “Mmm, tasty chicken.”