How to build confidence using checklists

One of the best ways to build confidence is through the use of checklists. Too often, we have limited time to accomplish all that we need to for our patients. Throw in the distractions that can pop up when you least expect, and it’s all too easy for essential items to slip through the cracks.

Checklists yield efficiency

A great read on this topic is The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right by surgeon and professor at Harvard, Dr. Atul Gawande. The book shares amazing stories from all over the world, including the miracle over the Hudson and the crisis the World Health Organization faces in third world nations, in addition to the dramatic events that occur in our local emergency rooms. The common denominator, he illustrates, is the need and efficiency for the checklist.

The Wizard ensures you never miss a step

The best example in our own field is the Dawson Wizard. It’s a great tool to guide and automate the checklist for everything from the complete exam and records through treatment planning. It prompts us through the process like a co-pilot before takeoff, to get the guess work out of the equation of doing the right thing for our patients. It’s hard not to have confidence when everything needed for success is there for you to check off the same way each and every time.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash