Correlates of non-technical skills in surgery: a prospective study

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version
Author(s)
Gillespie, Brigid M
Harbeck, Emma
Kang, Evelyn
Steel, Catherine
Fairweather, Nicole
Chaboyer, Wendy
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2017
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Background: Communication and teamwork failures have frequently been identified as the root cause of adverse events and complications in surgery. Few studies have examined contextual factors that influence teams’ non-technical skills (NTS) in surgery. The purpose of this prospective study was to identify and describe correlates of NTS.

Methods: We assessed NTS of teams and professional role at 2 hospitals using the revised 23-item Non-TECHnical Skills (NOTECHS) and its subscales (communication, situational awareness, team skills, leadership and decision-making). Over 6 months, 2 trained observers evaluated teams’ NTS using a structured form. Interobserver agreement across hospitals ranged from 86% to 95%. Multiple regression models were developed to describe associations between operative time, team membership, miscommunications, interruptions, and total NOTECHS and subscale scores.

Results: We observed 161 surgical procedures across 8 teams. The total amount of explained variance in NOTECHS and its 5 subscales ranged from 14% (adjusted R2 0.12, p<0.001) to 24% (adjusted R2 0.22, p<0.001). In all models, inverse relationships between the total number of miscommunications and total number of interruptions and teams’ NTS were observed.

Conclusions: Miscommunications and interruptions impact on team NTS performance.

Journal Title

BMJ Open

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

7

Issue

1

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© The Author(s) 2017. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Clinical sciences

Clinical sciences not elsewhere classified

Health services and systems

Public health

Other health sciences

Biomedical and clinical sciences

Health sciences

Psychology

Persistent link to this record
Citation
Collections