Key result
An integrative review of 34 articles found that the Surgical Safety Checklist improved team cohesion, communication, and patient safety, despite barriers like manpower limitations and staff resistance.
Why the study?
Surgical procedures pose significant risks of complications, prompting the need to summarize and evaluate facilitators and barriers to implementing the Surgical Safety Checklist across individual, professional, and organizational levels.
What are the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist in operating theatres?
What are the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist in operating theatres?
Staff training, conducive workplace culture, timely audits, and appropriate checklist adaptations are crucial for successful implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist.
Clinicians must prioritize training and cultural adaptation to overcome checklist barriers; extends implementation evidence by specifying actionable facilitators.
Surgical procedures pose an immense risk to patients, which can lead to various complications and adverse events. In order to safeguard patients' safety, the World Health Organization initiated the implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) in operating theatres worldwide. The aim of this integrative review was to summarize and evaluate the use and implementation of SSC, focusing on facilitators and barriers at the individual, professional, and organizational levels. This review followed closely the integrative review method by Whittemore and Knafl. An English literature search was conducted across three electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE) and other hand search references. Keywords search included: 'acute care', 'surgical', 'adult patients', 'pre-operative', 'intra-operative', and 'post-operative'. A total of 816 articles were screened by two reviewers independently and all articles that met the pre-specified inclusion criteria were retained. Data extracted from the articles were categorized, compared, and further analysed. A total of 34 articles were included with the majority being observational studies in developed and European countries. Checklists had been adopted in various surgical specialities. Findings indicated that safety checklists improved team cohesion and communication, resulting in enhanced patient safety. This resulted in high compliance rates as healthcare workers expressed the benefits of SSC to facilitate safety within operating theatres. Barriers included manpower limitations, hierarchical culture, lack of staff involvement and training, staff resistance, and appropriateness of checklist. Common facilitators and barriers at individual, professional, and organizational levels have been identified. Staff training and education, conducive workplace culture, timely audits, and appropriate checklist adaptations are crucial components for a successful implementation of the SSC. Methods have also been introduced to counter barriers of SSC.
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Lim et al. (2023) conducted a review in Surgical procedures (n=34). Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) was evaluated on Facilitators and barriers to the implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist. An integrative review of 34 articles found that the Surgical Safety Checklist improved team cohesion, communication, and patient safety, despite barriers like manpower limitations and staff resistance.
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