[Checklists have a potential in health care]

A checklist is a cognitive tool specifying the actions necessary to complete a given task. It serves to improve the quality of care, support the memory of the user and it may serve to indicate the necessary communicative steps within a team. Checklists are used increasingly in health care. Preliminary results indicate a potential for patient safety. However, no evidence indicates that a checklist in itself is sufficient to obtain clinical results: training and motivating staff, supporting implementation, and conducting follow-up and evaluation are as important as the checklist itself to achieve results.