The Implementation of the WHO’s Surgical Safety Checklist by Italian Operating Teams: A Descriptive Study

AIM: The study aimed at reporting the extent to which nurses in operating teams comply with the WHO’s surgical safety checklist at the national level. METHOD: A total of 621 nurses who attended the conferences held by the Association of Italian Nurses in Operating Teams (AICO) in 2019 were selected as the sample group for this descriptive study. They filled a paper-based questionnaire of items, which were according to WHO’s recommendations for surgical safety. Descriptive analyses were used to illustrate participants’ characteristics and responses to the questionnaire. The chi-square test was used to outline the relation between participants’ socio-cultural features and the information on the extent to which participants implemented the surgical safety checklist. RESULTS: According to the data collected, a majority of the participants (95.2%) claimed to comply with the checklist in perioperative procedures. Moreover, most participants (63.2%) revealed that they revise the checklist according to specific circumstances affecting their workflow and/or operational team. Additionally, almost a third of participants (31.9%) stated that they undertake an oral completion of the steps in the checklist to ensure its effective implementation. CONCLUSION: In this study, it emerged that the implementation of measures ensuring safety standards is largely inconsistent with the guidelines provided by WHO. Notably, major discrepancies occur when it comes to team members’ coordination, the revision of the checklist according to specific circumstances, the oral completion of the checklist’s steps during the workflow, and the active contribution of all team members in the implementation of the surgical safety checklist.