Use of a Surgical Safety Checklist to Improve Team Communication

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Surgical Team Communication

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial for surgical team performance and patient safety.
• Existing communication protocols may not fully address the complexities of the operating room environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a tailored World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist program on surgical team communication.
• To evaluate changes in the perception of communication and safety culture within the surgical team.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a process improvement program using a locally adapted World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist.
• Inclusion of a standardized time out, briefing, and debriefing process.
• Pre- and post-implementation surveys using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire.

Main Results:

• A significant overall increase in the surgical team's perception of communication (6% improvement, P < .05).
• Nurses showed a significant increase in communication perception (12% improvement, P = .002).
• Slight, non-significant increases were observed for surgeons (4%) and surgical technologists (2.3%).

Conclusions:

• The adapted Surgical Safety Checklist program positively impacted surgical team communication and fostered a better safety culture.
• Targeted interventions can enhance teamwork and communication in the operating room.
• Further investigation may be needed to optimize communication improvements for all surgical team members.