Background Regardless of the benefits associated of the Surgical Safety Checklist, adherence across its three phases remains inconsistent. The aim of this study was to systematically identify issues around workflow that impact on surgical teams’ ability to use the Surgical Safety Checklist in a large tertiary facility in Queensland, Australia. Method Observational audit of 10 surgical teams and 33 semi‐structured interviews with 70 participants from nursing, medicine and the community were conducted. Data were collected during 2014–2015. Inductive and deductive approaches were used to analyse field observations and interview transcripts. Results The domain, impact of workflow on checklist utilization, was identified. Within this domain, seven categories illustrated the causal conditions which determined the ways in which workflow influenced checklist use. These categories included: ‘busy doing the task’; ‘clashing task priorities’; ‘being pressured, running out of time’; ‘adapting processes to work patterns’; ‘doubling up on work’; ‘a domino effect, leading to delays’ and ‘reality of the workflow’. Conclusions One of the greatest systemic challenges to checklist use in surgery is workflow. Process changes in the way that surgical safety checklists are used need to incorporate the temporal demands of the workflow. Any changes made must ensure the process is reliable, is easily embedded into existing work routines and is not disruptive.

BackgroundTeam-based group communications using checklists are widely advocated to achieve shared understandings and improve patient safety. Despite the positive effect checklists have on collaborations and reduced postoperative complications, their use has not been straightforward. Previous research has described contextual factors that impact on the implementation of checklists, however there is limited understanding of the issues that impede team participation in checklist use in surgery. The aim of this prospective study was to identify and describe factors that drive team participation in safety checks in surgery.MethodsWe observed ten surgical teams and conducted 33 semi-structured interviews with 70 participants from nursing, surgery and anaesthetics, and the community. Constant comparative methods were used to analyse textual data derived from field notes and interviews. Observational and interview data were collected during 2014–15.ResultsAnalysis of the textual data generated from the field notes and interviews revealed the extent to which members of the surgical team participated in using the surgical safety checklist during each phase of patient care. These three categories included: ‘using the checklist’; ‘working independently’; and, ‘communicating checks with others’. The phases in the checking process most vulnerable to information loss or omission were sign in and sign out.ConclusionsTeam participation in safety checks depends on a convergence of intertwined factors; namely, team attributes, communication strategies and checking processes. A whole-of-team approach to participation in surgical safety checks is far more complex when considering the factors that drive participation. Strategies to increase participation in safety checks need to target professional communication practices and work processes such as workflow which curtail team members’ ability to participate.

BackgroundThe surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) was introduced in 2008 to improve teamwork and reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with surgery. Although mandated in many health care institutions around the world, challenges in implementation of the SSC continue.To use Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) to help understand how/why implementation of a complex intervention coined Pass The Baton (PTB) could help explain what facets of the Surgical Safety Checklist use led to its’ integration in practice, while others were not.MethodsA longitudinal multi-method study using survey and interviews was undertaken. Implementation of PTB involved; change champions, audit and feedback, education and prompts. Following implementation, surgical teams were surveyed using the NOrmalization MeAsure Development (NoMAD) and subsequently interviewed to explore the impact of PTB on their use of the checklist at 6 and 12 months respectively. Respondents’ self-reported perceptions of implementation of PTB was explained using the four NPT constructs; coherence, cognitive participation, collective action, and reflexive monitoring. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Interview data were coded inductively and content analysed using a framework derived from NPT.ResultsThe NoMAD survey response rate was 59/150 (39.3%). Many (45/59, 77.6%) survey respondents saw the value in PTB, while 50/59 (86.2%) would continue to use it; 45/59 (77.6%) believed that PTB could easily be integrated into existing workflows, and 48/59 (82.8%) thought that feedback could improve PTB in the future.A total of 8 interviews were completed with 26 surgical team members. Nurses and physicians held mixed views towards coherence while buy-in and participation relied on individuals’ investment in the implementation process and the ability to modify PTB. Participants generally recognised the benefit and value of using PTB in the ongoing implementation the checklist.ConclusionsWorkarounds and flexible co-construction in implementation designed to improve team communications in surgery may facilitate their normalisation in practice.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-2973-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundSurgical Safety Checklists (SSC) have been implemented widely across 132 countries since 2008. Yet, despite associated reductions in postoperative complications and death rates, implementation of checklists in surgery remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a patient safety programme over time on SSC use and incidence of clinical errors.DesignA prospective longitudinal design over three time points and a retrospective secondary analysis of clinical incident data was undertaken.MethodsWe implemented a patient safety programme over 4 weeks to improve surgical teams’ use of the SSC. We undertook structured observations to assess surgical teams’ checklist use before and after programme implementation and conducted a retrospective audit of clinical incident data 12 months before and 12 months following implementation of the programme.ResultsThere were significant improvements in the observed use of the SSC across all phases, particularly in sign-out where completion rates ranged from 79.3% to 94.5% (p<0.0001) following programme implementation. Across clinical incident audit periods, 33 019 surgical procedures were performed. Based on a subsample of 64 cases, clinical incidents occurred in 22/16 264 (0.13%) before implementation and 42/16 755 (0.25%) cases after implementation. The most predominant incident after programme implementation was inadequate tissue specimen labelling (23/42, 54.8%). Clinical incidents resulted in minimal or no harm to the patient.ConclusionsThe benefit in using a surgical checklist lies in the potential to enhance team communications and the promotion of a team culture in which safety is the priority.

The body of literature on clinical handover between operating theatre and the intensive care unit is in its early stages of development. Future research using rigorous study designs, broader populations and varied surgical procedures are needed to further evaluate the effect of clinical handover protocols.

BackgroundCompliance with surgical safety checklists (SSCs) has been associated with improvements in clinical processes such as antibiotic use, correct site marking, and overall safety processes. Yet, proper execution has been difficult to achieve.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to undertake a process evaluation of four knowledge translation (KT) strategies used to implement the Pass the Baton (PTB) intervention which was designed to improve utilization of the SSC.MethodsAs part of the process evaluation, a logic model was generated to explain which KT strategies worked well (or less well) in the operating rooms of a tertiary referral hospital in Queensland, Australia. The KT strategies implemented included change champions/opinion leaders, education, audit and feedback, and reminders. In evaluating the implementation of these strategies, this study considered context, intervention and underpinning assumptions, implementation, and mechanism of impact. Observational and interview data were collected to assess implementation of the KT strategies relative to fidelity, feasibility, and acceptability.ResultsFindings from 35 structured observations and 15 interviews with 96 intervention participants suggest that all of the KT strategies were consistently implemented. Of the 220 staff working in the department, that is, nurses, anesthetists, and surgeons, 160 (72.7%) knew about the PTB strategies. Qualitative analysis revealed that implementation was generally feasible and acceptable. A barrier to feasibility was physician engagement. An impediment to acceptability was participants’ skepticism about the ability of the KT strategies to effect behavioral change.ConclusionOverall, results of this evaluation suggest that success of implementation was moderate. Given the probable impact of contextual factors, that is, team culture and the characteristics of participants, the KT strategies may need modification prior to widespread implementation.

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Acute appendicitis is the most common condition requiring emergency surgery worldwide. Although current guidelines recommend prompt appendectomy as the preferred treatment, no time interval for surgery has been indicated. We used an integrative review methodology to critically evaluate evidence on the relationship between time to surgery and hospital length of stay and to identify the ideal time to surgery for patients undergoing appendectomy. We included 14 studies in our synthesis, most of which (n = 9/14, 64%) indicated that longer time delays to surgical intervention increased hospital length of stay for patients presenting with appendicitis. Researchers report that the optimal time for surgery is 24 to 36 hours after symptom onset, or 10 to 24 hours from admission. The results of our review indicate that patient symptoms on presentation may signify advancing pathology and may be more important than the time delay interval in defining surgical priority.