Get the Most Out of Your Safety Checklist
Frontline feedback and active participation help check all the boxes.
I
t's one thing to
have a surgery
safety checklist.
It's quite another to use
it consistently and
properly before each
and every case. The
South Carolina
Hospital Association
awarded our hospital
with a Safe Surgery
Designation because of the ways we use our checklists. Here are the
steps we took to be recognized as a local leader in protecting patients.
Survey the staff on checklist usage
Does your surgical team complete every section of the safety
checklist before every case? We thought our team did, until it came
time to apply for the Safe Surgery Designation. The form asked if each
element on our safety checklist is completed for every patient, every
time. I couldn't in good conscience answer the question, because I'm
not in the room when the OR team conducts pre-op time outs and runs
through the checklist.
That's when we polled our staff to find out. You should do the same.
Create a survey based on the elements listed on your checklist that
asks staff to check "yes" or "no" next to each element to indicate if
they perform the task for every patient. Keep the survey anonymous
to ensure you get honest feedback. You might be surprised to find,
like we did, that the compliance rate isn't as high as you'd like it to be.
1
3 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 6
Safety
Jessica Geddings, BSN, RN, NE-BC, CSPDT
• TRUE TO FORM Checklists ensure surgical teams follow standardized pre-op protocols.