SAFETY CULTURE
Measuring the teamwork performance of operating room teams
Published on
December 22, 2019
Journal of Interprofessional Care
Overview
Teamwork is fundamental to surgical patient safety, but it is inconsistently measured in practice. While many tools have been developed to assess teamwork in elective intraoperative situations, it is unclear which tool is the most robust. This systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate tools that can measure the teamwork of operating room teams. Studies were included if they examined the measurement properties of these teamwork assessment tools.
After searching several databases, the review identified 14 studies that evaluated 6 different teamwork assessment tools. The tools were validated across various surgical specialties, mostly in clinical rather than simulated settings. The Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery (OTAS) and Operating Theater Team Non-Technical Skills Assessment Tool (NOTECHS) were the most frequently investigated tools. However, both OTAS and NOTECHS rely on the assumption that team performance is equivalent to the sum of individual performances, which may be questionable. Future research should explore assessment tools that consider the team as the unit of analysis and evaluate the potential of these tools to provide meaningful feedback to healthcare providers in clinical practice.
Results
Of the 2,121 references identified, 14 studies of six assessment tools were included. Tools were validated across various specialties, mostly in clinical rather than simulated settings. The Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery (OTAS) and Operating Theater Team Non-Technical Skills Assessment Tool (NOTECHS) were the most frequently investigated tools. Though acceptable for assessing teamwork, both NOTECHS and OTAS rely on the questionable assumption that the teamwork of a team is equivalent to the sum of individual performances.
