Articles: checklist.
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Journal of patient safety · Mar 2016
Operating Room Clinicians' Attitudes and Perceptions of a Pediatric Surgical Safety Checklist at 1 Institution.
Despite mounting evidence that use of surgical checklists improves patient morbidity and mortality, compliance among surgical teams in executing required elements of checklists has been low. Recognizing that clinicians' receptivity is a major determinant of checklist use, we conducted a survey to investigate how mandated use of a surgical checklist impacts its operating room clinicians' attitudes about and perceptions of operating room safety, efficiency, teamwork, and prevention of medical errors. ⋯ The surgical staff at 1 pediatric hospital who responded viewed the novel Pediatric Surgical Safety Checklist as potentially beneficial to operative patient safety by improving teamwork and communication, reducing errors, and improving efficiency. Responses varied by discipline, indicating that team members view the checklist from different perspectives.
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Wrong-site surgery is all too common. Despite more than a decade of campaigns by major organizations to prevent these events, there are still reports of such mistakes. This article reviews the recent literature on surgical safety checklists and other tools designed to prevent wrong-site surgery and improve patient safety in the operating room. ⋯ The authors recently employed a protocol in which surgical instruments are kept in the back of the room, away from the patient, until completion of the surgical time-out. This practice helps to ensure that team members are not distracted or preoccupied with setting up equipment during the time-out. This approach also helps to mitigate the hierarchal style in the operating room.
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The purpose of this study was to determine whether pain at hospital discharge is associated with general health and depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 1 year following traumatic orthopedic injury. ⋯ Findings highlight the importance of early screening for uncontrolled postoperative pain to identify patients at high risk for poor psychological outcomes and who could benefit from more aggressive pain management. Results suggest early interventions are needed to address pain severity in patients with orthopedic trauma.
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J Intensive Care Med · Mar 2016
The Effect of an Electronic Checklist on Critical Care Provider Workload, Errors, and Performance.
The strategy used to improve effective checklist use in intensive care unit (ICU) setting is essential for checklist success. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that an electronic checklist could reduce ICU provider workload, errors, and time to checklist completion, as compared to a paper checklist. ⋯ The electronic checklist significantly reduced provider workload and errors without any measurable difference in the amount of time required for checklist completion. This demonstrates that electronic checklists are feasible and desirable in the ICU setting.