Implementation of the Surgical Safety Plan

Background: The surgical setting is a high stressed environment where poor communication can lead to fatal errors. Medical errors cause between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths in the USA a year. The single biggest factor underlying these errors is poor communication between health professionals. A large health care system developed the Surgical Safety Plan based on a modified checklist from the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist with the aim to increase communication and decrease medical errors. The purpose of this project was to assess the usability, feasibility, and attitudes regarding the new Surgical Safety Plan. Methods: This quality improvement project used a pre-survey to assess staff attitudes regarding the process and culture prior to the implementation of the checklist. Educational sessions about the Surgical Safety Plan were provided to staff prior to implementation. Post-implementation chart audits were conducted to ensure compliance. Additionally, a feasibility, usability, and attitudes survey were performed one month after implementation. Results: Pre-implementation, 68.4% of the 19 respondents agreed the current time-out process was sufficient. Post-implementation, 95.2% of the 21 respondents either strongly agreed (38.1%) or agreed (57.1%) that the new Surgical Safety Plan helps prevent adverse events. Nearly 86% of the respondents reported that the Surgical Safety Plan was considered easy to follow. Overall, most thought the Surgical Safety plan is still a work in progress and needs improvement.Conclusion: The use of the Surgical Safety Plan appears to be feasible, and staff satisfaction following implementation was high. Further study is needed over a longer period to determine the true effectiveness and durability of the intervention.