Multiple-trauma management: standardized evaluation of the subjective experience of involved team members

Staff attitude plays a pivotal role in quality management. The objective of the present study was to further define how interdisciplinary emergency hospital staff experience their daily work and the extent to which the professional speciality and training of an individual influences his/her assessment of multiple-trauma team performance.

The clinical staff involved in multiple-trauma emergency management of a university hospital was asked to answer a confidential questionnaire. Factorial analysis was used to identify 8 major dimensions from a total of 53 items.

The questionnaire was returned by 128 team members. All professional groups were most dissatisfied with the dimensions 'education and training', 'work sequence between specialities' and 'communication between specialities'. Assessment of the quality of in-hospital emergency-trauma management differed significantly between professional specialities (ANOVA, F=5.2; P=0.028); surgeons gave the highest ratings for all but one dimension. Having taken an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course influenced significantly the total rating of multiple-trauma treatments of anaesthetists and surgeons (F=5.5; P=0.024).

The perceptions of interdisciplinary trauma team members without the completion of an ATLS training course were that they did not communicate enough with each other and that there were differences between their expectations and reality. The differences and the communication deficits were overcome in team members who had passed an ATLS course.