World Health Organizations Surgical Safety Checklist Project

Medical error, especially in the operating room, claims the lives of patients and contributes to complications. A project was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the World Health Organizations Surgical Safety Checklist. Communication, teamwork, and the readiness of use by the operating room team was measured. The project design was descriptive utilizing the Surgical Safety Checklist and a modified version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Operating Room. Post-implementation responses to the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Operating Room survey revealed a significant improvement in the surgical teams’ perception of teamwork and communication. Results show the World Health Organizations Surgical Safety Checklist improves teamwork and communication, and improves awareness of patient safety factors when consistently implemented before each operation.