Use of the surgical safety checklist to improve communication and reduce complications

Summary Existing evidence suggests that communication failures are common in the operating room, and that they lead to increased complications, including infections. Use of a surgical safety checklist may prevent communication failures and reduce complications. Initial data from the World Health Org...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of infection and public health 2015-05, Vol.8 (3), p.219-225
Main Authors: Pugel, Anne E, Simianu, Vlad V, Flum, David R, Patchen Dellinger, E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Checklist
Communication
Compliance
Humans
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
Intraoperative Complications - prevention & control
Postoperative Complications - prevention & control
Surgical briefing
Surgical checklist
Surgical Procedures, Operative - adverse effects
Surgical safety
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Summary:Summary Existing evidence suggests that communication failures are common in the operating room, and that they lead to increased complications, including infections. Use of a surgical safety checklist may prevent communication failures and reduce complications. Initial data from the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist (WHO SSC) demonstrated significant reductions in both morbidity and mortality with checklist implementation. A growing body of literature points out that while the physical act of “checking the box” may not necessarily prevent all adverse events, the checklist is a scaffold on which attitudes toward teamwork and communication can be encouraged and improved. Recent evidence reinforces the fact the compliance with the checklist is critical for the effects on patient safety to be realized.
ISSN:1876-0341
1876-035X
DOI:10.1016/j.jiph.2015.01.001