Study on Surgical Team Dynamics Helps Improve Patient Outcomes

Anyone who has ever had surgery knows that the most important question for a patient, after the reassurance of a successful inpatient procedure, is how long it will take before returning home. While the performance of everyone on a surgical team is important, some roles play a greater part in how long a patient may need to remain at a hospital post-surgery.

New research looked at how the interaction between the core surgical team member, or the surgeon, and the non-core surgical team members, such as the circulator nurse, scrub tech and anesthesiologist, can affect team performance. Core members of teams lead, facilitate workflow and are central to problem solving. Non-core members play a vital role as well by bringing specialized skills essential to the task.

“We looked at how dyadic experience between core and non-core surgical team members facilitated team performance,” said Lauren D’Innocenzo, PhD, associate professor of organizational behavior, Provost Solutions Fellow and a co-author of the study. “Our findings could help hospitals optimize staffing in operating rooms for a more successful surgery and decrease the postoperative length of hospital stay.”

Read more on the Drexel News Blog.