Open AccessSurgical Safety Checklist: An essential tool to increase patient safety
Author(s) -
Pramod Kattel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of society of surgeons of nepal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2392-4772
pISSN - 1815-3984
DOI - 10.3126/jssn.v23i2.35841
Subject(s) - checklist , patient safety , teamwork , workload , context (archaeology) , relevance (law) , medicine , surgical procedures , medical emergency , surgical team , psychology , surgery , computer science , health care , paleontology , political science , law , economics , cognitive psychology , biology , economic growth , operating system
Medical practice without surgery cannot be assumed in the present context. Surgery is the need for individual and safety is his/her right. To increase the safety of the patient by overcoming medical errors, the WHOfirst introduced the Surgical Safety Checklist more than a decade back. It can be modified as per local needs. Its relevance is seen increasing day by day. When we hear about surgical errors, it is usually felt that it couldhave been prevented if the checklist were used properly. Teamwork and commitment is a must along with the proper definition of roles of each individual involved in the team. Surgery cannot be considered complete until the safe discharge of the patient is done. Many surgical errors can be prevented by its consistent use. Its use should come as a reflex rather than considering it to be a burden to the existing workload.