AHN Wexford Hospital, Saint Vincent Hospital Named Centers of Excellence in Surgical Safety by AORN

PITTSBURGH - The Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN), representing more than 200,000 surgical nurses across the country, has named both AHN Wexford Hospital in Pine Township and AHN Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie as a Center of Excellence in Surgical Safety: Prevention of RSI.

With this award, AORN recognizes the hospital for its commitment to reducing the risk of surgical errors by advancing the education of its surgical team members in the prevention of near misses and the consequences of unintentionally retained surgical items (RSI).

AORN announced its national education and recognition awards program in early 2022 and these AHN hospitals are among the first facilities in the U.S. to earn the designation as a Center of Excellence in Surgical Safety: Prevention of RSI. The award signifies the hospitals' commitment to the highest levels of surgical patient safety.

RSIs refer to any surgical sponge, instrument, tool or device that is unintentionally left in the patient at the completion of a surgery or other procedure. For years, unintentional RSIs have been identified by the Joint Commission as the most common sentinel event in surgical or invasive procedures performed at hospitals and surgery centers across the country.

###