In the December 10, 2008 issue of the New Yorker, author Atul Gawande writes: “If something so simple [as a checklist] can transform intensive care, what else can it do?”
Gawande gives some amazing examples of extraordinary ICU care evolving through the use of checklists. ICU care is complicated. A time and motion study of ICU care in Israel was cited. The study showed that the average ICU patient required 178 individual actions per day, ranging from administering a drug to suctioning the lungs. Any kind of mistake, in the procedure or in the sequence of actions, could result in fatal error.
Gewande also cited a study commissioned by the Michigan Health and Hospital Association in 2003. Peter Pronovost, who had perfected ICU checklists at Johns Hopkins Hospital was asked to try out three of his checklists in Michigan’s ICUs to test whether his checklist idea really worked. These tests proved to be a huge success.
Family caregivers can benefit from publications that, like the checklists, help them to participate in their healthcare decisions and help reduce medical error.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has developed pamphlets to be used by patients and their caregivers. These publications provide critical information on topics of vital importance and encourage the elderly to speak up to help prevent errors in their care. Topics include prevention of infections, medical errors, and medication complications,as well as planning follow-up care after hospitalizations and many other topics useful to the elderly.
You can find a complete list of these pamphlets on my website Taking Charge: Good Medical Care for the Elderly and How to Get It. Each of them may be read online, printed or downloaded to your computer’s hard drive.
You can read the New Yorker article The Checklist here.
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