Research published in the Journal of the American College of Surgery shows a standardized checklist can prevent missteps in patient care and improve safety, according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality publication.
For their study, researchers developed and tested checklists in a high-fidelity anesthesia simulator. The final product contained checklists for 10 crises: air embolism; anaphylaxis; unstable bradycardia; unstable tachycardia; cardiac arrest with no cardiac electrical activity; cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation; failed airway; fire; hemorrhage; and malignant hyperthermia, hypotension and hypoxia.
The researchers then defined a set of evidence-based processes for each crisis, resulting in a total of 46 key processes across all scenarios considered essential to management of these crises. Use of the final checklist led to a 6-fold reduction in failure to adhere to critical steps in management. The participants also rated the overall quality of the checklists and scenarios to be higher than average or excellent.
For their study, researchers developed and tested checklists in a high-fidelity anesthesia simulator. The final product contained checklists for 10 crises: air embolism; anaphylaxis; unstable bradycardia; unstable tachycardia; cardiac arrest with no cardiac electrical activity; cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation; failed airway; fire; hemorrhage; and malignant hyperthermia, hypotension and hypoxia.
The researchers then defined a set of evidence-based processes for each crisis, resulting in a total of 46 key processes across all scenarios considered essential to management of these crises. Use of the final checklist led to a 6-fold reduction in failure to adhere to critical steps in management. The participants also rated the overall quality of the checklists and scenarios to be higher than average or excellent.
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