Compliance With and Barriers to Implementing the Surgical Safety Checklist: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Abstract

This mixed-methods study aimed to determine nurses' views on the use of the Turkish version of the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC). Phase 1 of the study consisted of a survey of perioperative and surgical nursing unit nurses' perceptions on the use of the SSC. The results showed that personnel believed that every step of the checklist was not always applied and that an increased workload and the lack of team cooperation negatively affected the use of the checklist. Phase 2 of the study involved RN circulator interviews and focused on their experiences using the SSC, the obstacles to SSC implementation, and ways to increase compliance. We interviewed 126 nurses during phase 1 and 20 nurses during phase 2. We analyzed the interviews and identified three themes: the importance of using the SSC, barriers to using the checklist, and compliance with the checklist and applicability.