The Impact of Operating Room Distractions on Stress, Workload, and Teamwork
Ana Wheelock1, Amna Suliman, Rupert Wharton
1*Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK †Department of Surgery, Hillingdon Hospital, London, UK; and ‡Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Annals of Surgery
|August 21, 2015
Summary
Operating room distractions negatively impact surgical team performance, increasing stress and workload. Minimizing irrelevant conversations and equipment noise is crucial for improving teamwork and patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Surgical Safety
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Operating room (OR) distractions are common but their impact on surgical teams is under-researched.
- Understanding how distractions affect cognitive processes and behavior is essential for improving OR performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if operating room (OR) distractions correlate with increased mental workload, stress, and diminished teamwork among OR personnel.
- To identify specific types of distractions and their differential impact on various team members.
Main Methods:
- Ninety general surgery cases were observed in real-time.
- Validated tools including the OR Distractions Assessment Form, Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery, NASA-Task Load Index, and State Trait Anxiety Inventory (short form) were utilized.
- Statistical analyses, including ANOVA and Pearson correlations, assessed differences and associations between distractions, workload, stress, and teamwork.
Main Results:
- External staff-initiated distractions and case-irrelevant conversations were most prevalent.
- Irrelevant conversations were linked to poorer team performance, particularly when initiated by surgeons, impacting surgeon and anesthesiologist teamwork.
- Equipment-related distractions correlated with increased nurse stress and reduced teamwork, while acoustic distractions elevated surgeon stress and anesthesiologist workload.
Conclusions:
- Operating room (OR) distractions, while sometimes unavoidable, can significantly impair team functioning and outcomes.
- Targeted interventions to mitigate distractions are necessary for quality improvement in surgical settings.
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