I recently finished reading “The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Done Right” by Atul Gawande and I tore through it. Dr. Gawande, a surgeon, author and chairman of the WHO’s Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative, writes a compelling book on how, through the use of checklists, horrendous mistakes made in surgery that kill and injure thousands of people a year could be virtually eliminated. He suggests that because medicine ( especially surgery) is becoming more & more complicated each year, even the simplest of steps can be missed in treating patients. Everything from forgetting to infuse a preop patient with antibiotics ( or doing it too soon) to operating on the wrong patient is discussed. Dr. Gawande makes the point that checklists are used in the field of aviation to complex construction projects and proves that they were successful in averting disaster. But make no mistake,this is not a book filled with facts and figures. His discussions are rich and compelling. I would recommend this for anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of health care.
Source: Paula Dowd, Program Director and Associate Professor of Health Science
1 comment:
I would like to know more about how checklists lead to error - sounds like people weren't "thinking" - that elusive critical thinking we try to teach our students. I wonder if some of his stories would make for good case studies/class discussion. Thank you for telling us about the book.
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