Operating room nurses are responsible for making sure that no foreign objects remain in a patient's body at the end of surgery.
NEW YORK SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, 1996.The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled that the surgeon was not negligent and should be dismissed from the case. The court placed legal responsibility squarely upon the operating-room nurses for a laparotomy pad being left inside a surgical patient.
The operating-room nurses, and not the surgeon, according to the court, have the legal responsibility to insure that no foreign object is left inside a patient's body, by keeping correct counts of sponges, needles and surgical instruments. Stafford vs. Molinoff, 645 N.Y.S. 2d 313 (N.Y. App., 1996).
(Editor’s Note: As it pertains to the surgeon, this is an anomalous ruling. Most U.S. jurisdictions have a "captain-of-the-ship" rule that makes the surgeon's "deep pockets" available to a surgical patient who sues over any aspect operating-room care, even things like sponge, needle and instrument counts over which the surgeon exercises no actual control or supervision.
However, even where the surgeon is considered liable by the courts as captain of the ship nursing and other surgical personnel are still legally accountable for their own actions. They and their employers can be sued for their negligent acts and omissions, along with the surgeon.)