The Checklist

In “The Checklist,” Atul Gawande describes how Peter Pronovost of John Hopkins Hospital is introducing checklists into Intenive Care Units, or ICU’s around the country. In 2001, Peter Pronovost made a simple checklist of basic sterilization steps for ICU doctors at John Hopkins to follow when putting a sterile tube into a patient. In 25 months, only two patients had infections in the tubing when doctors followed the checklist. Peter was then asked by the State of Michigan to implement similar checklists in the hospitals around the state. Before these checklists, one hospital had 75% more tube infections than the national average, and after the implementation of the checklists, had less tube infections than 90% of the country. However, many doctors are still opposed to checklists, saying that they do not need checklists because of their rigorous training and schooling.
This really angers me. When lives are in danger, doctors cant put away their damn egos and suck it up. Infections are commonly referred to as the number one killers in hospitals. When this is the case, why aren’t hospitals doing more to fight them? It is because doctors are egotistical, and feel that they are too smart to have to fill out a checklist. It is an “insult to their integrity” if someone thinks that they need a checklist to perform their job. I consider myself to be pretty smart, not in a way that’s comparing myself to anyone else, but just in my own knowledge, and I use checklists all the time. They are a good way to stay organized and to be able to repeat the same process multiple times without missing a step. Many of the things that checklists help me remember are things that are very simple or minute that I may just escape my notice because they are so basic. If doctors want to be so egotistical, they should look at checklists as a complement to them, which implies that they are so smart, they might forget basic, simple things.
Peter Pronovost is now working with the country of Spain to implement these checklists in the hospitals nationwide there. I don’t think anyone could put it better than he did when he was asked about the United States adopting a checklist policy “I at least hope we’re not the last.”