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In response to multiple incidents of registration-associated patient misidentification (eg, assigning a new patient an existing patient's medical record number), an interdisciplinary team used plan-do-study-act methodology to investigate the root cause of such errors and formulate solutions. Several system problems were identified, ranging from inadequate training of registrars to the lack of a true master list of patients' medical record numbers. The authors describe the iterative process used to identify and address sources of error at several points within the patient registration process.

This guidance statement outlines recommendations from the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) for developing, implementing, and evaluating safe medication practices in the perioperative environment.