Checklists save lives. They do. A few years ago patients would go to the hospital for an operation for a left knee and the doctor would operate on the right knee. A few years ago, medical staff would perform surgery and release the patient only later to discover that, when the body responded to an infection, someone had left a sponge behind! A few years ago patients were more likely to acquire a MRSA infection in a hospital than in everyday life. What has changed from a few years ago to now?
Checklists. That’s right—checklists. Today, medical staff at he best hospitals use checklists to ensure that they remember what they have learned. This is particularly important in repetitive situations. It is in these situations that we fall asleep—we get lazy—mistakes ensue. Patient safety depends on people who remember what they know.
“We use checklists so not to forget that which we have forgotten.” Shigeo Shingo
Dr. Shingo reminds us forgetfulness is part of our human condition. Not that we forget forever. We think that because we can remember that we will remember. Yet, we all know that even a small distraction is enough for us to forget for the moment.
Checklists are generally valuable in four situations:
Routine, repetitive and mind-numbing work is all around us. It can directly lead to an error that endangers us and others.
Practice:
We can’t use checklists without making them. Pick a task with some complication to it. Refresh your memory of the steps by performing the task. Once completed, write out the important steps. When satisfied that you have them all, go back to the beginning to identify and record for each step any points of attention. When satisfied, attempt to perform the task again by following your checklist. Make any necessary corrections to the checklist so that it represents successful completion of the task.
– Hal Macomber & Calayde Davey (The Pocket Sensei)
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