title: [Checklists have a potential in health care].
abstract: A checklist is a cognitive tool specifying the actions necessary to complete a given task. It serves to improve the quality of care, support the memory of the user and it may serve to indicate the necessary communicative steps within a team. Checklists are used increasingly in health care. Preliminary results indicate a potential for patient safety. However, no evidence indicates that a checklist in itself is sufficient to obtain clinical results: training and motivating staff, supporting implementation, and conducting follow-up and evaluation are as important as the checklist itself to achieve results.
authors.affiliation: Dansk Selskab for Patientsikkerhed, Afsnit 610, Hvidovre Hospital, 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark. louise.raboel@regionh.dk
authors.forename: Louise Isager
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Rabøl
authors.forename: Inger Margrethe
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Siemsen
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Trier
authors.forename: Torben
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mogensen
authors.forename: Henning Boje
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D003142:Communication; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D017751:Safety Management; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000592:standards