When we go to the hospital in North Carolina or elsewhere, we expect that our condition will be made better, not worse. Sadly, this is not the case for the thousands of people who fall victim to medical malpractice each year.

Surgical errors are just one type of medical malpractice that is more common than it should be. Wrong-site surgeries, in particular, seem like they would be very rare, but actually occur with some regularity.

In fact, according to the Joint Commission, an organization that accredits hospitals, wrong-site surgeries happen as often as 40 times per week in the United States.

The Joint Commission attempted to curb these errors by implementing a short checklist in hospitals called the "universal protocol," but it has not been as effective as was hoped.

The checklist essentially requires hospital staff to mark the area of the body needing surgery, and then again confirm that the correct body part will be operated on right before surgery begins. The point is to rely on a checklist system instead of just memory, which can be faulty due to human error.

Patient-safety advocates can't point to one specific thing that's causing the wrong-site surgeries to persist, but they say that the time constraints on medical professionals and doctors' overall unwillingness to accept that they can make mistakes both contribute to the problem.

Luckily, it appears that patient safety is getting more attention at medical schools throughout the country, as it should. The Association of American Medical Colleges is now reportedly encouraging schools to place a focus on patient safety, and medical students are learning the importance hand washing, which was not taught until recently.

Source: Kaiser Health News, "Doctor, Did You Check Your Checklist?" Bara Vaida, Jan. 30, 2012