Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Publisher
Elsevier
Source Publication
Academic Pediatrics
Source ISSN
1876-2859
Original Item ID
DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2025.102882
Abstract
Objective
To examine the utilization and effectiveness of safety checklists in pediatric clinical care.
Methods
A comprehensive literature search was conducted using Medline to identify studies related to the development and/or implementation of patient safety checklists in pediatrics. All study designs were included for citations published through September 2023.
Results
Following abstract and full-text screening, 74 studies remained for data extraction and analysis. Pediatric surgery emerged as the main setting for checklists use (n = 35), followed by Intensive Care Units (n = 21), and Emergency Departments (n = 9). Of the 74 reviewed papers, 37 (50%) designed and developed checklists. The co-design with stakeholders was the most frequently employed design method, with 25 studies reporting its use. However, only two studies included inputs from patients or parents/guardians. Of the 74 studies, 34 (46%) assessed the impact of checklists on patient safety outcomes and quality of care. Among these, 27 (79%) studies reported a reduction in incidents and adverse events, along with an improvement in quality of care when checklists were used. Six studies (18%) found no impact of checklist use on quality and safety of care, while one (3%) found that the checklist negatively impacted patient outcomes.
Conclusion
The review underscores the use of checklists across a wide variety of pediatric care settings. Pediatric safety checklists are valuable tools for improving care quality and safety. Future work needs to be done using rigorous study designs to develop more conclusive, generalizable.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Zouaidi, Kawtar; Miner, Tate W.; Walji, Muhammad F.; Ray, Kristin N.; Kalenderian, Elsbeth; Rindal, Donald B.; and Suda, Katie J., "A Scoping Review of Patient Safety Checklists in Pediatrics" (2025). School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications. 629.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/dentistry_fac/629
Comments
Published version. Academic Pediatrics, Vol. 25, No. 8 (2025). DOI. © 2025 Elsevier Inc. Used with permission.
Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Academic Pediatric Association This is an open access article under the CC BY-NCND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).