Attending Surgeons Differ From Other Team Members in Their Perceptions of Operating Room Communication

The Joint Commission has repeatedly recognized inadequate communication as a top contributing factor to medical error in the operating room (OR). The goal of this qualitative study was to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of OR communication dynamics, specifically across different interdisciplinary roles and to recommend specific interventions based on these findings.

We performed a two-phase qualitative study at one academic institution to explore contributors and barriers to optimal OR communication. The first phase consisted of interviews with OR team members, including surgery and anesthesiology attending faculty and residents, medical students, and OR staff. We qualitatively analyzed the transcripts of these interviews using a deductive approach. We additionally verified the findings through subsequent focus groups.

Most OR team members, independent of role, noted that team familiarity, clear role expectations, and formal communication are vital for effective OR communication. There was a disconnect between attending surgeons and the rest of the OR team: Whereas the majority of team members noted the importance of procedural-focused discussions, team hierarchy, and the attending surgeon's mood as major contributors to successful OR communication, the attending surgeons did not recognize their own ability to contribute to optimal OR communication in these regards.

Although team familiarity was important to all participants in the OR, we noted that attending surgeons differed in their perceptions of OR communications from other members of the team, including attending anesthesiologists, residents, medical students, and nurses. Our findings support the need for (1) improved awareness of the impact of a team members's content and character of communication, particularly by attending surgeons; and (2) targeted initiatives to prioritize team familiarity in OR scheduling.