A Dead Language
The AST motto, meaning "The Patient First."
What is Aeger primo?
This intentional tort involves the actual act of harmful or unwarranted contact with a person, such as surgery without consent.
What is battery?
This type of consent applies in emergency situations when no other authorized person can be contacted, and a reasonable provider believes the patient would consent if able.
What is implied consent?
The primary purpose of this technique, which involves using a basin or magnetic mat, is to prevent sharps injuries during surgical procedures.
What is the neutral zone (or "no-touch" technique)?
The best assurance of safe and individual professional behavior is a well-developed one of these in the surgical technologist.
What is a surgical conscience?
Meaning "Above all, do no harm," this phrase reflects a fundamental ethical principle in healthcare.
What is Primum non nocere?
A civil wrong, independent of a contract, that provides a remedy in the form of damages; it can be intentional or unintentional.
What is a tort?
This member of the surgical team is ultimately responsible for securing written, informed surgical consent.
Who is the surgeon?
The specific type of report sent to risk management to decrease the chance of harm to patients or staff; examples include falls or medication errors.
What is an incident report (or sentinel event report)?
This organization replaced the "Patient's Bill of Rights" with the "Patient Care Partnership."
What is the American Hospital Association (AHA)?
Under this historical doctrine, the surgeon was held accountable for all actions of the operating room team, though it is often replaced today by the "borrowed servant" rule. (Hint: It's in English)
What is the Captain of the Ship doctrine?
If a surgical team member leaves a patient who is dependent on their presence (such as a medicated patient), they may be liable for this act.
What is abandonment?
If a patient is illiterate, they may sign the consent form with this mark, provided it is witnessed by an authorized individual.
What is an "X"?
This document constitutes a written instruction addressing an incapacitated patient's right to self-determination, such as a living will.
What is an advance directive?
This federal act protects patient privacy and allows patients to access their medical records and request corrections.
What is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)?
This legal doctrine means "the thing speaks for itself" and applies when harm occurs that is obviously the result of negligence, such as a retained foreign object.
What is Res ipsa loquitur?
Defined as professional misconduct that results in harm to another, or "professional negligence."
What is malpractice?
In emergency situations where standard consent cannot be obtained, state law often authorizes treatment based on the agreement of this many consulting physicians, not including the operating surgeon.
What is two?
This agency created a "Do Not Use" abbreviation list in 2004 to prevent medication errors.
What is The Joint Commission (TJC)?
This body verifies that surgical technology educational programs meet minimum accreditation standards.
What is CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs)?
Translated as "Let the master answer," this doctrine holds an employer legally responsible for the actions of their employees.
What is Respondeat superior?
A method of pretrial discovery in which a surgical team member answers questions under oath.
What is a deposition?
This specific legal doctrine implies that the patient has given implicit consent for the surgeon to correct or treat unexpected pathologic conditions found during surgery that were not anticipated in the original informed consent.
What is the extension doctrine?
Effective in 1990, this act requires healthcare facilities to track medical devices whose failure could result in serious adverse patient outcomes.
What is the Safe Medical Device Act?
Codes of conduct are often guided by this specific ethical theory, which states that the morality of an action is based on whether the action itself is right or wrong according to a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.
What is deontology?