Articles: checklist.
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Although a number of validated tools are available for assessing nontechnical skills and teamwork in the operating room (OR), there are no tools for measuring completion of key OR tasks, which is fundamental to effective teamwork, patient safety, and OR efficiency. This study describes the development and content validation of a new tool (ie, the Metric for Evaluating Task Execution in the Operating Room) for measuring basic task completion during surgical procedures. ⋯ The Metric for Evaluating Task Execution in the Operating Room is easy to use and can identify specific gaps in safety and/or efficiency in OR processes. Next, we should examine its links with additional measures of OR performance, for example, patient outcomes, list cancellations/delays, and nontechnical skills.
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Checklists are increasingly being used by surgical teams in the perioperative period to improve clinical care and increase patient safety. In this article, we review some of the mechanisms by which checklists work and evaluate evidence supporting their use. ⋯ Checklists can aid clinicians involved in complex processes and multidisciplinary team interactions to improve the quality and safety of care by prompting dialogue and exchange of information.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2013
Long-term effects of a perioperative safety checklist from the viewpoint of personnel.
While positive short-term effects of the use of safety checklists have previously been reported by personnel, it is unclear to which extent these effects are maintained for a long-term period. The aim of the present study was to evaluate perioperative safety standards and the quality of interprofessional cooperation from the viewpoint of the involved personnel for up to 2 years following the introduction of a safety checklist. ⋯ Some positive effects concerning the perioperative organisation and management were rated more positively even 2 years after checklist implementation. However, interprofessional communication and cooperation did not show long-term improvement from staff members' point of view. Probably longer lasting effects for the latter aspects could be achieved by repeated instruction and communication training.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Feb 2013
Human factors in clinical handover: development and testing of a 'handover performance tool' for doctors' shift handovers.
To develop and test a handover performance tool (HPT) able to help clinicians to systematically assess the quality and safety of shift handovers. ⋯ Communication determined the majority of handover quality. Teamwork and situation awareness also provided an independent contribution to the overall quality rating. The HPT has demonstrated good validity and reliability providing evidence that it can be easily used by raters with different backgrounds and in several clinical settings. The HPT could be utilized to assess doctors' handover quality systematically, as well as teaching tool in medical schools or in continuing professional development programmes for self-reflective practice.
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Feb 2013
Methodology and bias in assessing compliance with a surgical safety checklist.
Surgical safety checklists, such as the perioperative time-out, have been shown to improve performance on a variety of patient safety measures. A variety of methods have been used to assess compliance with the perioperative time-out, but no standardized methodology with a reliable observer group currently exists. An observation-based methodology was used to assess time-out compliance at an academic medical center. ⋯ In our cohort of observed time-outs, the compliance rate was low, calling into question time-out quality, and, more importantly, patient safety. Measures must be taken by large hospitals to regularly audit time-out compliance and create effective programming to improve performance. Although observational assessment is an effective method to assess compliance with surgical safety checklists, observer group bias has the potential to skew results.