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Cited by 348Patient Safety and Medication ErrorsClinical practice guidelines implementationClinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills

Clinical Review: Checklists—Translating Evidence into Practice

Open access
Winters, Bradford D, Gurses, Ayse P, Lehmann, Harold, Sexton, J Bryan, Rampersad, Carlyle, Pronovost, Peter J·2009·Critical Care
DOI 10.1186/cc7792PMC PMC2811937
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Abstract

Checklists are common tools used in many industries. Unfortunately, their adoption in the field of medicine has been limited to equipment operations or part of specific algorithms. Yet they have tremendous potential to improve patient outcomes by democratizing knowledge and helping ensure that all patients receive evidence-based best practices and safe high-quality care. Checklist adoption has been slowed by a variety of factors, including provider resistance, delays in knowledge dissemination and integration, limited methodology to guide development and maintenance, and lack of effective technical strategies to make them available and easy to use. In this article, we explore some of the principles and possible strategies to further develop and encourage the implementation of checklists into medical practice. We describe different types of checklists using examples and explore the benefits they offer to improve care. We suggest methods to create checklists and offer suggestions for how we might apply them, using some examples from our own experience, and finally, offer some possible directions for future research.

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  • Clinical checklists turn evidence-based guidelines into clear, practical steps that reduce confusion and help ensure that every patient receives safe, consistent, and high-quality care.

    “Clinical checklists turn evidence-based guidelines into clear, practical steps that reduce confusion and help ensure that every patient receives safe, consistent, and high-quality care [200,201].”

    From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [200]

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References 59 · Cited by 348

Research works printed but not linked: 42

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Authors
Winters, B. D., Gurses, A. P., Lehmann, H., Sexton, J. B., Rampersad, C., & Pronovost, P. J.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Pronovost, Peter J
ORCID
Venue
Critical Care
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2009
Volume
13
Issue
6
Pages
210
ISSN
1364-8535 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/cc7792
PMC
PMC2811937
OpenAlex
W2149703842
Cited by
348
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 23
FWCI
4.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Critical Care (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Patient Safety and Medication Errors
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Clinical practice guidelines implementation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills
Keywords
checklists, clinical checklist, evidence-based practice, implementation barriers, knowledge dissemination, checklist development, patient safety, quality of care
MeSH terms
Algorithms, Cognition, Humans, Quality Assurance, Health Care, Evidence-Based Medicine, Checklist

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