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Use of a Surgical Safety Checklist to Improve Team Communication
Author(s) -
Cabral Richard A.,
Eggenberger Terry,
Keller Kathryn,
Gallison Barry S.,
Newman David
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
aorn journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1878-0369
pISSN - 0001-2092
DOI - 10.1016/j.aorn.2016.06.019
Subject(s) - debriefing , checklist , teamwork , surgical team , patient safety , medicine , safety culture , nursing , medical emergency , psychology , medical education , health care , surgery , management , cognitive psychology , economics , economic growth
To improve surgical team communication, a team at Broward Health Imperial Point Hospital, Ft Lauderdale, Florida, implemented a program for process improvement using a locally adapted World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist. This program included a standardized, comprehensive time out and a briefing/debriefing process. Postimplementation responses to the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire revealed a significant increase in the surgical team's perception of communication compared with that reported on the pretest (6% improvement resulting in t 79 = –1.72, P < .05, d = 0.39). Perceptions of communication increased significantly for nurses (12% increase, P = .002), although the increase for surgeons and surgical technologists was lower (4% for surgeons, P = .15 and 2.3% for surgical technologists, P = .06). As a result of this program, we have observed improved surgical teamwork behaviors and an enhanced culture of safety in the OR.