Revised for 2013 Shannon Hein RN, CPN(C)

 published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in May 2004  Found an overall incidence rate of adverse events of 7.5%  Of the almost 2.5 million annual hospital admissions; about are associated with an adverse event close to of these are potentially preventable (CMAJ May 25, :1643)

Of 719 Events investigated : Human Factors 443 Communication 388 Assessment 357 Leadership 299 Information Management 140 Operative Care 103 Physical Environment 80 Care Planning 76 Medication Use 70 Continuum of Care 61 (The majority of events have multiple root causes) (The Joint Commission Sentinel Event Data; Root Causes by Event Type )

Of 928 Events investigated : Leadership 770 Communication 634 Human Factors 618 Information Management 338 Operative Care 313 Assessment 311 Physical Environment 89 Patient Rights 55 Anesthesia Care 46 Continuum of Care 36 (The majority of events have multiple root causes) (The Joint Commission Sentinel Event Data; Root Causes by Event Type )

Of 773 Events investigated : Leadership 614 Human Factors 502 Communication 496 Operative Care 436 Assessment 195 Physical Environment 174 Information Management 127 Continuum of Care 21 Performance Improvement 13 Care Planning 8 (The majority of events have multiple root causes) (The Joint Commission Sentinel Event Data; Root Causes by Event Type )

 communication tool intended to be used by clinicians to improve the safety and quality of patient care during surgical procedures  shown to reduce (>30%) the number of preventable complications / mortality associated with surgery by ensuring critical information is shared with all members of the surgical team (NEJM 2009;360: )  Now >3900 hospitals worldwide (122 countries) …more than 90% of the world’s population (WHO)

 “A Surgical Safety Checklist to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Global Population”  Between October 2007 and September 2008, eight hospitals in eight cities collected data on 3733 patients “Pre” Safe Surgery Checklist and 3955 “Post” Safe Surgery Checklist  The rate of death was 0.9% before the checklist was introduced and declined to 0.6% afterward (high income sites Toronto, Auckland, London, Seattle)  Inpatient complications occurred in 10.3% of patients at baseline and in 7.1% after introduction of the checklist (at high income sites)  Checklist adherence was measured and tight correlations were found between the use of the checklist and achieving these results.

 A modified version of the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist was introduced to AHS in January 2010  The method of delivery has varied from site to site, with compliance also varying  Recognizing that many staff work at multiple sites………..

 The Safe Surgery Checklist was modified and standardized to ensure that all sites across Alberta are completing the necessary steps  After 2013, Safe Surgery Checklist becomes an Accreditation Canada requirement  The Covenant Health Safe Surgery Checklist Policy…….

 Safe Surgery Checklist Required for all surgical interventions  All steps must be completed by the appropriate people  Required to be documented on patient’s health record  If Briefing is not completed, the case does not proceed  Surgeon and Anesthesiologist: must be staff or Fellow

 The Checklist Lead ensures the completion of each section of the Checklist.  All steps in each section must be complete before proceeding  Briefing: Surgeon  Time Out: Nurse  Debriefing: Nurse

 As soon as patient is in the Operating Room, before Induction of Anesthesia Patient or family member Anesthesiologist Surgeon Nurse All MUST be present for Briefing

 Immediately before incision  Initial instrument will be kept on back table until Time Out is complete Anesthesiologist Surgeon Nursing All MUST be present for Time Out

 During Wound Closure  Cavity Count must be complete Anesthesiologist Surgeon Nursing All MUST be present for Debriefing

 Safe Surgery Checklist will be part of the chart  Each section (Briefing, Time Out and Debriefing) will be represented  The Checklist Lead ensures these sections are complete  Each section is then signed off on the chart

Where is it done? All three sections will be done in the Operating Room. In the event that a patient has an interpreter or cannot represent themselves, the Briefing will take place in the Pre Operative Holding area. Why the changes? To ensure that all hospitals across Alberta are doing the same standardized Checklist. Is this going to slow things down? In the beginning, this may have its growing pains. But, it has actually been proven to save time in many situations

Can a Resident do the Checklist in place of the Physician? No. The AHS and Covenant Health policies require the Surgeon and Anesthesiologist to be either Staff or Clinical Fellow. Is this for all surgeries? Yes What are the other hospitals doing? All hospitals in Alberta are doing the Safe Surgery Checklist and are required to meet all of the steps and criteria. Is this part of the patient chart? Yes

Does the Checklist have to be done in an Emergency situation? The Most Responsible Health Practitioner will use discretion in determining which sections of the Checklist will be completed. Documentation of this will go in the patient’s Health Record. What if the patient is undergoing multiple procedures? The Surgeon or alternative surgeon, Anesthesiologist or alternative anesthesiologist and nurse must be present for Briefing and Time Out for each distinct procedure. Upon completion of all procedures, the most responsible surgeon, the anesthesiologist and nurse must ALL be present for debriefing.

What if the patient needs an interpreter or cannot represent themselves, how do we do the Briefing section? If an interpreter or representative/family member is present, complete the Briefing section in the Pre Operative Holding Area with Circulating Nurse, Anesthesia, and Surgeon present.

 The Canadian Adverse Events Study Baker GR, Norton P, Flintoft V, et al. The Canadian adverse events study: the incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada. CMAJ. 2004; 170 (11):  Impact of using the checklist at the eight WHO pilot sites Haynes AB, Weiser TG, Berry WB, et al. A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. New England Journal of Medicine Jan 14; [Epub ahead of print].  The Joint Commission Sentinel Event Data; Root Causes by Event Type  Alberta Health Services Safe Surgery Checklist Provincial Measurement Strategy September 17, 2012