Abusive behaviour in Canadian and US operating rooms

Disruptive intraoperative behaviour has detrimental effects on clinicians, institutions, and patients. Abusive behaviour is an egregious form of disruptive behaviour that has a particular risk of detrimental consequences. The prevalence of abusive behaviour in the operating room (OR) is uncertain. We therefore examined the prevalence and frequency of exposure to abusive behaviour in a cohort of Canadian and US OR clinicians.

This was a sub-study of an international survey examining disruptive behaviour in the OR. It included a cohort of clinicians from Canada and the United States who were recruited from six perioperative associations and two institutions. Clinicians were asked about their intraoperative exposure to three abusive behaviours: physical assault, verbal threats, and intimidating invasion of their personal space. From the responses, we derived the proportion of clinicians who experienced or witnessed abuse (i.e., prevalence) and the number of abusive events experienced by all respondents (i.e., frequency).

Of the 7,465 clinicians who responded to the original international survey, 2,875 were part of this abuse sub-study (United States =1,010, Canada = 1,865). In the preceding year, 667 clinicians (23.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 21.6 to 24.8) personally experienced abuse, while 1,121 clinicians (39.0%; 95% CI, 37.2 to 40.8) witnessed colleagues being abused. In total, the group of respondents reported experiencing 14,237 abusive events in the preceding year.

Both the number of clinicians who are exposed to abusive behaviour and the large number of reported events are concerning. Since these events can undermine team-work and affect patients, coworkers, and institutions, efforts are needed to further evaluate and manage the problem.