Compliance with the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist: deviations and possible improvements.
Rydenfält C, Johansson G, Odenrick P, et al. Compliance with the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist: deviations and possible improvements. Int J Qual Health Care. 2013;25(2):182-187. doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzt004.
The World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist has achieved remarkable improvements in patient outcomes in research settings, but this observational study conducted in a Swedish county hospital found that the checklist was often not utilized properly. In particular, time-outs frequently occurred without all team members present. This study exemplifies the difficulty of implementing checklists in a real-world setting.