[Observational Team work Assessment for Surgery as Quality and Safety improvement tool]

Area of Science:

• Medical Education and Human Factors
• Surgical Safety and Patient Outcomes

Context:

• Adverse events in surgery often stem from deficits in Non Technical Skills (NTS), encompassing cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal abilities crucial for patient safety.
• Effective teamwork, integrating technical and Non Technical Skills, is paramount for safe surgical procedures and minimizing risks.

Purpose:

• To validate the Italian translation and assess the reliability and internal consistency of the Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery (OTAS) tool.
• To establish OTAS as a reliable instrument for evaluating surgical team Non Technical Skills in real-time across all surgical phases.

Summary:

• The Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery (OTAS) tool, comprising surgeon-completed checklists and expert-rated behavioral assessments, was translated into Italian.
• Application in four surgical procedures demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability (K-Pearson) and sound internal consistency (Cronbach ?) for behavioral scales.
• The validated Italian OTAS is effective for real-time assessment of surgical team Non Technical Skills and identifying areas for improvement.

Impact:

• Provides a validated tool for assessing surgical team Non Technical Skills, crucial for enhancing patient safety and reducing adverse events.
• Enables the identification of risk factors and system vulnerabilities within surgical teams, guiding targeted interventions to improve surgical outcomes.
• Facilitates the development of training programs focused on Non Technical Skills to foster safer surgical environments.