You are correct that there are surgeons etc that would reply in the negative no matter what was said.
My understanding is that if the checklist empowers, say, 5% of the nurses to speak up and 5% of surgeons to acknowledge the error that is still a huge net positive over thousands of cases.
My favorite small nudge example is pill bottles vs "blister" packs. Having pills in blister packs has shown to have a significant effect on reducing suicide as it makes it much harder to get the number of pills needed. Yes, some people will still succeed but there is a segment of the target population who will give up after a couple pills.
I have a prescription that means I take eight pills in one go. And they are provided in blister packs. It's really annoying. I can see that this is a thing.
My understanding is that if the checklist empowers, say, 5% of the nurses to speak up and 5% of surgeons to acknowledge the error that is still a huge net positive over thousands of cases.
My favorite small nudge example is pill bottles vs "blister" packs. Having pills in blister packs has shown to have a significant effect on reducing suicide as it makes it much harder to get the number of pills needed. Yes, some people will still succeed but there is a segment of the target population who will give up after a couple pills.