• 22
  • February
    2012

For years, American school children learned a silly song about Santa making a list and checking it twice. The purpose was to determine who was naughty and who was nice -- and thus worthy of a Christmas present.

Today, when it comes to preventing surgical errors, the notion of making a list and checking it twice has a whole new meaning. Through the work of Peter Pronovost, the director of the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, more and more hospitals are using the practice of checklists to monitor the proper delivery of medical services.

One thing this monitoring can do is make it more likely doctors, nurses, and others who interact with patients, will wash their hands appropriately before doing so. In general, getting staff to wash their hands is one of the most effective ways to prevent a hospital-acquired infection from even happening in the first place.

Another important area where checklists can play a key role is in preventing sponges or other objects from being left in patients' bodies after surgery. The idea is that if the surgical team is required to pause long enough to check objects off of their list before closing up, the chances of something getting left behind are greatly reduced.

The importance of checklists is also even now extending to patient preparation too.

In her book, "The Patient's Checklist: 10 Simple Hospital Checklists to Keep Your Safe, Sane & Organized," the author advises for patients to bring their own hand sanitizer and a daily medication log. This can help to ward off infections, while also reducing the chances of a medication error.

For this author, she actually wrote the book after her father became very ill when hospital staff gave him the wrong medication dosages and incorrect foods for a diabetic.

Of course, while her tips for patients are indeed valuable, it's important to remember that hospital staff members have a duty to keep their patient's safe, and in cases where something goes wrong due to negligence, those staff members can often be held liable through a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times, "Make a list and check it twice," Kim Painter, Feb. 6, 2012

Source: "Points from Pronovost," 2011