A 1-minute mindfulness exercise for surgical teams in the operating room: an acceptability pilot

The operating room (OR) is a high-stress, time-constrained environment where team focus is critical to patient safety. Mindfulness-based interventions can reduce stress and improve attention, but their duration often limits integration into the surgical workflow. We evaluated the acceptability and initial perceptions of a brief, 1-minute mindfulness exercise delivered to the surgical team immediately before surgery.

A single-arm acceptability pilot study was conducted in which a mindfulness exercise was played over a speaker in the OR prior to the procedure; participation was optional. After surgery, team members were invited to complete a survey. The survey included five items assessing perceived calm, clarity, stress, contribution to patient safety, and likelihood of recommending the exercise, along with an open-ended feedback item. Responses were summarized descriptively, and chi-square tests compared dichotomized responses by physician status.

A total of 116 individuals participated. Surgeons represented the largest group (32.8%), followed by nurses (19.8%). Across items, more than half of respondents reported favorable perceptions related to calmness, clarity, stress, contribution to patient safety, and likelihood of recommending the exercise; fewer than 15% of respondents disagreed. Overall, 61% reported they would recommend the exercise. Responses did not differ between physician and non-physician team members across survey items.

The intervention was acceptable with generally positive initial perceptions across the surgical team. Future work should refine delivery within the operative workflow and evaluate feasibility and efficacy in larger-scale studies, including impacts on individual providers, team functioning, and downstream patient care and safety outcomes.