Five Influential Factors for Clinical Team Performance in Urgent, Emergency Care Contexts

Area of Science:

• Military Medicine
• Team Performance Science
• Emergency Care Systems

Background:

• Military medical care involves diverse interdisciplinary teams operating across distributed theaters.
• Team structure and demands vary based on care roles, location, and mission needs.
• Understanding team performance is crucial for effective emergency, urgent, and trauma care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify critical factors influencing the performance accuracy of interdisciplinary teams in simulated emergency care.
• To determine the impact of specific team characteristics on the effectiveness of concurrent multi-patient care.

Main Methods:

• A regression study design was employed to analyze team performance.
• Linear regression assessed 11 predictors of team effectiveness in small (6-8 person) interdisciplinary teams.
• Simulated emergency care scenarios involving multiple urgent patient needs were utilized.

Main Results:

• A model of five predictors explained 82.30% of the variance in team performance.
• The significant predictors were clinical skills, team size, authority profile, clinical knowledge, and team member familiarity.
• Analysis confirmed a significant linear relationship between these predictors and team performance (F(5, 240) = 218.34, P < .001).

Conclusions:

• Developing collective knowledge and skills is essential for team members to competently perform roles.
• Smaller teams benefit from clinical authorities who are familiar with each other.
• Expertise and familiarity enhance clinical decision-making, treatment alternatives, and skill implementation in patient care.