Sustaining Teamwork Behaviors Through Reinforcement of TeamSTEPPS Principles

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Surgical Team Dynamics
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Teamwork training enhances short-term teamwork behaviors.
• Sustained improvements in teamwork are often not achieved.
• Orthopedic surgery teams require effective teamwork for optimal outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of reinforcement activities on sustained teamwork behaviors in orthopedic surgery teams.
• To determine if targeted reinforcement strategies improve leadership and communication skills.
• To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of teamwork interventions.

Main Methods:

• A prospective pre-post cohort study involving 104 orthopedic surgical unit staff.
• Implementation of four reinforcement activities focusing on leadership and communication.
• Evaluation of teamwork behaviors using the Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery tool before and after reinforcement.

Main Results:

• Leadership and communication behaviors significantly improved post-reinforcement (P = 0.022 and P = 0.044).
• Nursing staff showed improvements in both leadership and communication behaviors.
• Surgical staff demonstrated improved leadership behaviors, while anesthesia staff did not show significant improvement.

Conclusions:

• Reinforcement activities are crucial for achieving sustained improvements in teamwork behaviors.
• Targeted reinforcement can enhance specific teamwork components like leadership and communication.
• Ongoing reinforcement strategies are necessary to maintain and improve surgical team performance.