Managing Clostridium difficile infection in hospitalised patients.

Checklists are not a new phenomenon and have been used in the aviation industry for some time as a means of ensuring safety and minimising harm. Checklists are now used commonly in health care to improve patient safety. This article describes the development and integration of a daily review checklist process to support the care and management of patients with Clostridium difficile infection in one NHS trust hospital. The aim of the checklist is to assist staff in early recognition of disease severity, identification of potential complications and prevention of cross-transmission of C.difficile.