Comment by alexpotato
Comment by alexpotato 3 days ago
Highly recommend reading Atul Gawande's "Checklist Manifesto" [0] if you are interested in the operational results of adding something like checklists to medical care.
Case in point: requiring everyone in the operating room to say their name, specialty and reason for the operation (and their part in it).
You might ask why the above is necessary?
Well:
- everyone is wearing a mask, cap and possibly glasses which makes them hard to recognize
- the patient is often draped in such a way that you can't tell who they are
- many Operating Rooms(ORs) look the same
- there are apparently COUNTLESS stories of medical personnel going into the wrong OR and not realizing until the surgery has started
Another fascinating point about checklists since the OP article mentions doctors vs nurses: checklists give nurses the power to challenge doctors. e.g. "Dr, I believe the next step on the checklist we agreed on is to do X".
If you have no checklist, the Dr can just say "No, we don't need that, I know what I'm doing. Shut up, Nurse!" (this is a real example from the book btw).
He also has an article comparing the Cheesecake Factory to health care that I also highly recommend [1]
This reminds me of an article I read [1] where a surgeon, deciding his skills had room for improvement and lives could be bettered by honing those skills, had a retired surgeon come in occasionally and coach him. The external perspective and quick feedback improved his confidence and outcomes, and he convincingly advocated that practice.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/03/personal-best