Building a Collaborative Culture: Focus on Psychological Safety and Error Reporting

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Surgical Team Performance

Background:

• A Midwestern academic medical center implemented a structured teamwork training program for cardiothoracic operating room staff.
• The primary goal was to achieve at least 90% positive psychological safety among participants post-training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of structured teamwork training on psychological safety within a cardiothoracic operating room.
• To assess changes in reported medical errors and staff turnover following the training intervention.

Main Methods:

• A 3-month teamwork training program was conducted.
• Confidential questionnaires assessed psychological safety at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months post-training.
• Daily surveys and analysis of medical error reports and staff turnover rates were used to evaluate outcomes.

Main Results:

• Psychological safety increased from 78.1% at baseline to 88.2% at 12 months.
• Comfort in speaking up reached 93.9% in daily surveys during the final quarter.
• Reported medical errors significantly decreased from 7.44% to 4.65% (P = .005).
• Nurse and surgical technologist turnover rates showed variability post-training.

Conclusions:

• Structured teamwork training in cardiothoracic operating rooms can enhance teamwork and psychological safety.
• The training may contribute to improved communication and potentially better patient outcomes.
• Further investigation into the impact on staff retention is warranted.