Common risky behaviours checklist: A tool to assist nurse supervisors to assess unsafe practice

Aim: To describe the development of the Common Risky Behaviour Checklist, a tool to aid nurse supervisors in determining when a nurse may be questionably fit to perform, particularly in cases of substance abuse. Background: A significant number of nurses may have substance use disorders that could manifest as unsafe performance at work, and nurse supervisors lack the tools to assess a nurse's fitness to perform at work. Method: Job analysis techniques were used to identify the critical impairment behaviours for the tool. Job analysis is a legally defensible, multi-stage process used in the organisational psychology field to develop work performance assessments. Results: A screening tool was developed for nurse supervisors to assess when a nurse may be questionably fit to perform. Conclusion: The development of this checklist is one of several needed advancements in order to address the issue of fitness to perform and patient safety. Implications for nursing management: The Common Risky Behaviour Checklist offers nurse managers assistance in protecting patient safety by providing a quick (one-page), systematic, behaviour-based method to collect information that can inform urgent decisions, trigger performance corrections and can complement formal organisational documentation processes in cases of unsafe practice due to substance abuse.