Cell Phones in the OR: A Cross-Sectional Study of Norwegian Perioperative Nurses' Knowledge, Practice, and Attitudes.

Few studies have focused on the use of cell phones in the OR. In Norway, researchers sought to assess perioperative nurses' knowledge, practice, and attitudes associated with cell phone use in the OR and distributed a nationwide questionnaire via a social media platform. More than 80% of the 332 respondents thought that cell phones were contaminated and that pathogens could contaminate hands. Almost all respondents brought their phone to work; approximately 61% of respondents carried it in their pocket in the OR. Responses to questions about phone cleaning showed that 39 (11.7%) of the respondents routinely cleaned their phone before entering the OR and 33 (9.9%) of the respondents cleaned it when leaving the OR. Less than 20% of respondents indicated their facility had guidelines for cleaning personal cell phones. Opportunities for improvement in cell phone cleaning in ORs exist and additional research involving all perioperative team members is needed.

The Economic Impact of Standardization and Digitalization in the Operating Room: A Systematic Literature Review.

Hospital face increased resource constraints and competition. This escalates the need for efficiency optimization especially in resource-intense areas, such as the Operating Room (OR). Efficiency cannot happen at expenses of patient outcomes. Innovative digital support systems (DSS) have been introduced into the market to support established standardization methods of intraoperative workflows further. This review aimed to analyze whether applied standardization methods and implemented DSS of intraoperative surgical workflows lead to increasing efficiency and demonstrate economic improvements. A systematic review of intraoperative surgical workflows standardization and digitalization was performed. Journal articles and reviews from 2000 to 2023 were retrieved from EBSCO, PubMed, and Scopus databases, as well as the internal database of Johnson & Johnson. 17 articles showed a significant increase in efficiency through standardization, which led to cost reductions between $70.20 to $3,516 per case without negatively impacting quality. Five additional articles on DSS demonstrated a significant positive impact on efficiency and quality. Reduction in OR-time between 6 to 22% per case was one main contributor. No literature on DSS revealed any correlated economic impact. Selected standardization methods and introduced DSS for intraoperative surgical workflows effectively increase efficiency while maintaining or even improving quality. Demonstrated cost-effectiveness of non-digital standardization methods across surgical areas requires more research on complex and resource-intensive procedures and the economic value of DSS to support hospital management's strategic decisions to overcome the increasing economic burden.

Hand Hygiene among Anesthesiologists and Microorganisms Contamination in Anesthesia Environments: A Single-Center Observational Study.

Objective: To investigate the baseline levels of microorganisms' growth on the hands of anesthesiologists and in the anesthesia environment at a cancer hospital. Methods: This study performed in nine operating rooms and among 25 anesthesiologists at a cancer hospital. Sampling of the hands of anesthesiologists and the anesthesia environment was performed at a ready-to-use operating room before patient contact began and after decontamination. Results: Microorganisms' growth results showed that 20% (5/25) of anesthesiologists' hands carried microorganisms (> 10 CFU/cm 2) before patient contact began. Female anesthesiologists performed hand hygiene better than did their male counterparts, with fewer CFUs ( P = 0.0069) and fewer species ( P = 0.0202). Our study also found that 55.6% (5/9) of ready-to-use operating rooms carried microorganisms (> 5 CFU/cm 2). Microorganisms regrowth began quickly (1 hour) after disinfection, and increased gradually over time, reaching the threshold at 4 hours after disinfection. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the hands of 20% (5/25) of anesthesiologists and 33.3% (3/9) of operating rooms. Conclusion: Our study indicates that male anesthesiologists need to pay more attention to the standard operating procedures and effect evaluation of hand hygiene, daily cleaning rate of the operating room may be insufficient, and we would suggest that there should be a repeat cleaning every four hours.

The surgical debrief: Just another checklist or an instrument to drive cultural change?

INTRODUCTION: Post-procedural debrief is recommended to improve patient safety. We examined operating room (OR) clinicians' perceptions of the impact of a multi-disciplinary debrief on OR culture. METHODS: A survey was administered to 182 OR clinicians at a major academic medical center. Attitudes toward the surgical debrief and its effect on patient safety and OR culture were evaluated. RESULTS: Majority of clinicians (58.2%) believed creating a culture of safety in the OR was a shared care team responsibility, however, surgical attendings and trainees were more likely to assign this responsibility to the surgical attending. Few circulating nurses and trainees felt comfortable initiating a surgical debrief. Overall clinicians agreed that a debrief would impact both patient safety outcomes and OR culture. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians felt implementation of a surgical debrief would positively affect the OR culture of safety by improving interdisciplinary communication and influencing the power hierarchy that exists in many ORs.

The Supervisor's Toolkit: Strategies of Supervisors to Entrust and Regulate Autonomy of Residents in the Operating Room.

OBJECTIVE: To identify what strategies supervisors use to entrust autonomy during surgical procedures and to clarify the consequences of each strategy for a resident's level of autonomy. BACKGROUND: Entrusting autonomy is at the core of teaching and learning surgical procedures. The better the level of autonomy matches the learning needs of residents, the steeper their learning curves. However, entrusting too much autonomy endangers patient outcome, while entrusting too little autonomy results in expertise gaps at the end of training. Understanding how supervisors regulate autonomy during surgical procedures is essential to improve intraoperative learning without compromising patient outcome. METHODS: In an observational study, all the verbal and nonverbal interactions of 6 different supervisors and residents were captured by cameras. Using the iterative inductive process of conversational analysis, each supervisor initiative to guide the resident was identified, categorized, and analyzed to determine how supervisors affect autonomy of residents. RESULTS: In the end, all the 475 behaviors of supervisors to regulate autonomy in this study could be classified into 4 categories and nine strategies: I) Evaluate the progress of the procedure: inspection (1), request for information (2), and expressing their expert opinion (3); II) Influence decision-making: explore (4), suggest (5), or declare the next decision (6); III) Influence the manual ongoing action: adjust (7), or stop the resident's manual activity (8); IV) take over (9). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new insights into how supervisors regulate autonomy in the operating room. This insight is useful toward analyzing whether supervisors meet learning needs of residents as effectively as possible.

Improving Formative Feedback in the Operating Room Setting: Developing and Implementing an Initiative to Improve Feedback Quality and Culture.

PROBLEM: Formative feedback, given in an ongoing fashion during the learning process, is fundamental to clinical education. However, dissatisfaction with formative feedback among residents is common. Difficulties with formative feedback are intensified in the operating room (OR) setting due to fast pace, space limitations, and frequent rotation of residents and attendings. APPROACH: In the anesthesiology and critical care department at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, the authors launched the Feedback Moment initiative from January 2018 to May 2018 in which 24 first-year residents and attendings were given a short series of prompts designed to facilitate regular, high-quality formative feedback. The authors conducted semistructured interviews with residents before and after the initiative to evaluate its impact. OUTCOMES: In baseline interviews, 18 participating residents stressed the importance of formative feedback but described feeling unsure of their performance due to lack of ongoing constructive input from attendings. They felt hesitant to approach attendings for feedback due to a desire not to interrupt OR workflow or appear incompetent. In follow-up interviews, residents described the initiative as helping to normalize constructive formative feedback but difficult to execute regularly due to OR workflow issues and frequent rotation of attendings with varying approaches. NEXT STEPS: Challenges faced by participants in this initiative highlight several considerations for effective OR-based formative feedback. Alternative timings for initiating feedback must be considered in light of the hectic nature of the OR workflow. Residents should be equipped with the skills necessary to adapt to varying practice patterns and frequent rotation between attendings, while attendings should be trained to provide a clear rationale for constructive feedback that allows residents to quickly adapt to practice variation. Finally, establishing clear goals among resident-attending pairs is critical to ensuring that formative feedback given in necessarily brief sessions is focused and productive.

Utilization of lean project management principles and health informatics to reduce operating room delays in a vascular surgery practice.

OBJECTIVES: Perioperative inefficiency can increase cost. We describe a process improvement initiative that addressed preoperative delays on an academic vascular surgery service. METHODS: First case vascular surgeries from July 2019-January 2020 were retrospectively reviewed for delays, defined as late arrival to the operating room (OR). A stakeholder group spearheaded by a surgeon-informaticist analyzed this process and implemented a novel electronic medical records (EMR) preoperative tool with improved preoperative workflow and role delegation; results were reviewed for 3 months after implementation. RESULTS: 57% of cases had first case on-time starts with average delay of 19 min. Inappropriate preoperative orders were identified as a dominant delay source (average delay = 38 min). Three months post-implementation, 53% of first cases had on-time starts with average delay of 11 min (P < 0.05). No delays were due to missing orders. CONCLUSIONS: Inconsistent preoperative workflows led to inappropriate orders and delays, increasing cost and decreasing quality. A novel EMR tool subsequently reduced delays with projected savings of $1,200/case. Workflow standardization utilizing informatics can increase efficiency, raising the value of surgical care.

Six Sigma in surgery: how to create a safer culture in the operating theatre using innovative technology.

Safe delivery of patient care in the operating theatre is complex and co-dependent of many individual, organisational, and environmental factors, including patient, task and technology, individual, and human factors. The Six Sigma approach aims to implement a data-driven strategy to reduce variability and consequently improve safety. Analytical data platforms such as a Black Box ought to be embraced to support process optimisation and ultimately create a higher level of Six Sigma safety performance of the operating theatre team.

Impact of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist Relative to Its Design and Intended Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify what parts of the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist (WHO SSC) are working, what can be done to make it more effective, and to determine if it achieved its intended effect relative to its design and intended use. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis and meta-meta-analyses of findings in WHO SSC systematic reviews following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTS: Twenty systematic reviews were included for qualitative thematic analysis. Narrative information was coded in 4 primary areas with a focus on impact of the WHO SSC. Four themes-Clinical Outcomes, Process Measures, Team Dynamics and Communication, and Safety Culture-pertained directly to the aims or purposes behind the development of the SSC. The other 2 themes-Efficiency and Workload involved in using the checklist and Checklist Impact on Institutional Practices-are associated with SSC use, but were not focal areas considered during its development. Included in the 20 systematic reviews were 24 unique observational cohort studies that reported pre-post data on a total of 18 clinical outcomes. Mortality, morbidity, surgical site infection, pneumonia, unplanned return to the operating room, urinary tract infection, blood loss requiring transfusion, unplanned intubation, and sepsis favored the use of the WHO SSC. Deep vein thrombosis was the only postoperative outcome assessed that did not favor use of the WHO SSC. CONCLUSIONS: The WHO SSC positively impacts the things it was explicitly designed to address and does not positively impact things it was not explicitly designed for.

Sales Representatives in the Operating Room: Conflict of Interest or Clinical Support?

BACKGROUND: The Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which became federal law in January 2012, mandated that medical device manufacturers must disclose any financial support provided to individual physicians on a publicly available Web site. The law reflects increasing concern about physician-industry relationships. METHODS: The connection between surgeon and sales representative creates possibilities for both financial and non-financial conflicts of interest (COIs). Indeed, COIs may be inherent when a sales representative is motivated by profit while also serving a critical role in many surgeries. RESULTS: The potential benefits and risks for patients, who may not even be aware of the sales representative's presence in the operating room, must be considered. CONCLUSIONS: This paper adds to the national discussion about neurosurgical physician-industry conflicts of interests and the issues relative to sales representatives in the operating room.

A quantitative evaluation of aerosol generation during supraglottic airway insertion and removal.

Many guidelines consider supraglottic airway use to be an aerosol-generating procedure. This status requires increased levels of personal protective equipment, fallow time between cases and results in reduced operating theatre efficiency. Aerosol generation has never been quantitated during supraglottic airway use. To address this evidence gap, we conducted real-time aerosol monitoring (0.3-10-µm diameter) in ultraclean operating theatres during supraglottic airway insertion and removal. This showed very low background particle concentrations (median (IQR [range]) 1.6 (0-3.1 [0-4.0]) particles.l-1 ) against which the patient's tidal breathing produced a higher concentration of aerosol (4.0 (1.3-11.0 [0-44]) particles.l-1 , p = 0.048). The average aerosol concentration detected during supraglottic airway insertion (1.3 (1.0-4.2 [0-6.2]) particles.l-1 , n = 11), and removal (2.1 (0-17.5 [0-26.2]) particles.l-1 , n = 12) was no different to tidal breathing (p = 0.31 and p = 0.84, respectively). Comparison of supraglottic airway insertion and removal with a volitional cough (104 (66-169 [33-326]), n = 27), demonstrated that supraglottic airway insertion/removal sequences produced <4% of the aerosol compared with a single cough (p < 0.001). A transient aerosol increase was recorded during one complicated supraglottic airway insertion (which initially failed to provide a patent airway). Detailed analysis of this event showed an atypical particle size distribution and we subsequently identified multiple sources of non-respiratory aerosols that may be produced during airway management and can be considered as artefacts. These findings demonstrate supraglottic airway insertion/removal generates no more bio-aerosol than breathing and far less than a cough. This should inform the design of infection prevention strategies for anaesthetists and operating theatre staff caring for patients managed with supraglottic airways.

Occupational exposures in the operating room: Are surgeons well-equipped?

BACKGROUND: Occupational health hazards are ubiquitously found in the operating room, guaranteeing an inevitable risk of exposure to the surgeon. Although provisions on occupational health and safety in healthcare exist, they do not address non-traditional hazards found in the operating room. In order to determine whether surgeons or trainees receive any form of occupational health training, we examine the associations between occupational health training and exposure rate. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey was distributed. Respondent characteristics included academic level, race/ethnicity, and gender. The survey evaluated seven surgical disciplines and 13 occupational hazards. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between academic level, surgical specialty, and exposure rate. RESULTS: Our cohort of 183 respondents (33.1% response rate) consisted of attendings (n = 72, 39.3%) and trainees (n = 111, 60.7%). Surgical trainees were less likely to have been trained in cytotoxic drugs (OR 0.22, p<0.001), methylmethacrylate (OR 0.15, p<0.001), patient lifting (OR 0.43, p = 0.009), radiation (OR 0.40, p = 0.007), and surgical smoke (OR 0.41, p = 0.041) than attending surgeons. Additionally, trainees were more likely to experience frequent exposure to bloodborne pathogens (OR 5.26, p<0.001), methylmethacrylate (OR 2.86, p<0.001), cytotoxic drugs (OR 3.03, p<0.001), and formaldehyde (2.08, p = 0.011), to name a few. CONCLUSION: Although surgeon safety is not a domain in residency training, standardized efforts to educate and change the culture of safety in residency programs is warranted. Our study demonstrates a disparity between trainees and attendings with a recommendation to provide formal training to trainees independent of their anticipated risk of exposure.

Rapid standardized operating rooms (RAPSTOR) in thyroid and parathyroid surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a high efficiency rapid standardized OR (RAPSTOR) for hemithyroid/parathyroid surgery using standardized equipment sets (SES) and consecutive case scheduling (CCS) on turnover times (TOT), average case volumes, patient outcomes, hospital costs and OR efficiency/stress. METHODS: Patients requiring hemithyroidectomy (primary or completion) or unilateral parathyroidectomy in a single surgeon's practice were scheduled consecutively with SES. Retrospective control groups were classified as sequential (CS) or non-sequential (CNS). A survey regarding OR efficiency/stress was administered. Phenomenography and descriptive statistics were conducted for time points, cost and patient outcome variables. Hospital cost minimization analysis was performed. RESULTS: The mean TOT of RAPSTOR procedures (16 min; n = 27) was not significantly different than CS (14 min, n = 14) or CNS (17 min, n = 6). Mean case number per hour was significantly increased in RAPSTOR (1.2) compared to both CS (0.9; p < 0.05) and CNS (0.7; p < 0.05). Average operative time was significantly reduced in RAPSTOR (32 min; n = 28) compared to CNS (48 min; p < 0.05) but not CS (33 min; p = 0.06). Time to discharge was reduced in RAPSTOR (595 min) compared to CNS (1210 min, p < 0.05). There was no difference in complication rate between all groups (p = 0.27). Survey responses suggested improved efficiency, teamwork and workflow. Furthermore, there is associated decrease in direct operative costs for RAPSTOR vs. CS. CONCLUSION: A high efficiency standardized OR for hemithyroid and parathyroid surgery using SES and CCS is associated with improved efficiency and, in this study, led to increased capacity at reduced cost without compromising patient safety. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 2.

Perioperative patient safety management activities: A modified theory of planned behavior.

Patient safety is an important healthcare issue worldwide, and patient accidents in the operating room can lead to serious problems. Accordingly, we investigated the explanatory ability of a modified theory of planned behavior to improve patient safety activities in the operating room. Questionnaires were distributed to perioperative nurses working in 12 large hospitals in Korea. The modified theory of planned behavior data from a total of 330 nurses were analyzed. The conceptual model was based on the theory of planned behavior data, with two additional organizational factors-job factors and safety management system. Individual factors included attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and patient safety management activities. Results indicated that job factors were negatively associated with perceived behavioral control. The patient safety management system was positively associated with attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were positively associated with behavioral intention. Behavioral intention was positively associated with patient safety management activities. The modified theory of planned behavior effectively explained patient safety management activities in the operating room. Both organizations and individuals are required to improve patient safety management activities.

CoVID - 19 en el Quirófano. ¿Cuál fue el impacto en el personal con el uso de un protocolo de seguridad? / CoVID - 19 in the O.R. was the impact on staff with the security protocol use?

Introducción: La pandemia por Coronavirus originada en 2019 fue reconocida como de alta contagiosidad y se definieron diferentes medidas de prevención de contagio. Objetivo: Evaluar su impacto en el personal de salud actuante en los quirófanos ante patologías quirúrgicas impostergables. Configuración y Diseño: Estudio observacional descriptivo prospectivo con análisis retrospectivo en el área quirúrgica desde 1/julio al 30/septiembre/2020. Material y Métodos: Se implementó́ un listado de verificación CoVID–19, en pacientes a operar sospechosos o confirmados con criterios del Ministerio de Salud de la Nación. Resultados: 582 personas intervinieron en el área quirúrgica para la asistencia de 80 pacientes CoVID–19 positivo. El 74% de los procedimientos se realizó en urgencias. No hubo informes de infección/contagio de los participantes en la atención sanitaria de los pacientes positivos según relevamiento diario realizado por la División Infectologia.Conclusión: Trabajar en forma coordinada con acatamiento de protocolos especiales y equipamiento de protección personal adecuado define las reglas y procedimientos para documentar la no contagiosidad del personal actuante en la asistencia de pacientes CoVID-19 positivos con patologías quirúrgicas.(AU)

Introduction: The Coronavirus pandemic originating in 2019 was recognized as highly contagious and different infection prevention measures were defined. Aims: Was to assess its impact on acting health workers in operating rooms against non- suspend surgical pathologies. Settings and Design: Prospective descriptive observational study with retrospective analysis in the surgical area from 1/July to 30/September/2020. Methods and Material: A CoVID–19 checklist was implemented in patients to be operated on, suspected or confirmed with criteria of the Nation's Ministry of Public Health. Results: 582 people surgically intervened in the operating room area for the assistance of 80 CoVID–19 positive patients. 74% of the procedures were performed in unscheduled emergencies. No reports of infection/contagion of participants in the health care of positive patients according to the daily survey carried out by the Infectology Division. Conclusions: working in a coordinated manner with compliance, special protocols and adequate personal protection equipment manages defining the rules and procedures to certificate the non-contagiousness of workers in the care of CoVID-19 patients positive with surgical pathologies.(AU)

Improving Operating Room Efficiency Using the Six Sigma Methodology.

OBJECTIVE: To help improve operating room efficiency in a tertiary care facility, Six Sigma analysis was utilized. Six Sigma is a technique driven by data, methodology, and a philosophy of continuous improvement to help create a system in which 99.99966% of products are free from defects. This process helps to reduce variability and waste in production, while increasing quality and decreasing cost of the final product. METHODS: The steps of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) methodology were used. Variables measured included close-to-cut time, patient-out to patient-in time, and room utilization. Statistical analysis was conducted, while an individual was sent to shadow various levels of operating room personnel to help recognize possible shortcomings in the system, including communication and coordination errors. RESULTS: Baseline results were recorded for each surgical specialty to help determine the specific needs of each OR team. Changes in workflow, such as staggered start anesthesia times, were recommended for each level of personnel based on statistical analysis and observation. Results were followed for several years with initial data showing success of the process. However, ongoing construction and resistance to change has prevented further review. CONCLUSION: While Six Sigma can be a valuable tool, it is essential to have a proper leadership team that includes all stake holders. The process requires horizontal and vertical leadership as well as buy-in from all individuals affected by the process. The synergy of these factors is key for success.

Using performance frontiers to differentiate elective and capacity-based surgical services.

BACKGROUND: Acute care surgery (ACS) model of care delivery has many benefits. However, since the ACS surgeon has limited control over the volume, timing, and complexity of cases, traditional metrics of operating room (OR) efficiency almost always measure ACS service as "inefficient." The current study examines an alternative method-performance fronts-of evaluating changes in efficiency and tests the following hypotheses: (1) in an institution with a robust ACS service, performance front methodology is superior to traditional metrics in evaluating OR throughput/efficiency, and (2) introduction of an ACS service with block time allocation will improve OR throughput/efficiency. METHODS: Operating room metrics 1-year pre-ACS implementation and post-ACS implementation were collected. Overall OR efficiency was calculated by mean case volumes for the entire OR and ACS and general surgery (GS) services individually. Detailed analysis of these two specific services was performed by gathering median monthly minutes-in block, out of block, after hours, and opportunity unused. The two services were examined using a traditional measure of efficiency and the "fronts" method. Services were compared with each other and also pre-ACS implementation and post-ACS implementation. RESULTS: Overall OR case volumes increased by 5% (999 ± 50 to 1,043 ± 46: p < 0.05) with almost all of the increase coming through ACS (27 ± 4 to 68 ± 16: p < 0.05). By traditional metrics, ACS had significantly worse median efficiency versus GS in both periods: pre (0.67 [0.66-0.71] vs. 0.80 [0.78-0.81]) and post (0.75 [0.53-0.77] vs. 0.83 [0.84-0.85]) (p < 0.05). As compared with the pre, GS efficiency improved significantly in post (p < 0.05), but ACS efficiency remained unchanged (p > 0.05). The alternative fronts chart demonstrated the more accurate picture with improved efficiency observed for GS, ACS, and combined. CONCLUSION: In an institution with a busy ACS service, the alternative fronts methodology offers a more accurate evaluation of OR efficiency. The provision of an OR for the ACS service improves overall throughput/efficiency.

Barriers and enablers to effective interprofessional teamwork in the operating room: A qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

BACKGROUND: Effective teamwork is critical for safe, high-quality care in the operating room (OR); however, teamwork interventions have not consistently resulted in the expected gains for patient safety or surgical culture. In order to optimize OR teamwork in a targeted and evidence-based manner, it is first necessary to conduct a comprehensive, theory-informed assessment of barriers and enablers from an interprofessional perspective. METHODS: This qualitative study was informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Volunteer, purposive and snowball sampling were conducted primarily across four sites in Ontario, Canada and continued until saturation was reached. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and de-identified. Directed content analysis was conducted in duplicate using the TDF as the initial coding framework. Codes were then refined whereby similar codes were grouped into larger categories of meaning within each TDF domain, resulting in a list of domain-specific barriers and enablers. RESULTS: A total of 66 OR healthcare professionals participated in the study (19 Registered Nurses, two Registered Practical Nurses, 17 anaesthesiologists, 26 surgeons, two perfusionists). The most frequently identified teamwork enablers included people management, shared definition of teamwork, communication strategies, positive emotions, familiarity with team members, and alignment of teamwork with professional role. The most frequently identified teamwork barriers included others' personalities, gender, hierarchies, resource issues, lack of knowledge of best practices for teamwork, negative emotions, conflicting norms and perceptions across professions, being unfamiliar with team members, and on-call/night shifts. CONCLUSIONS: We identified key factors influencing OR teamwork from an interprofessional perspective using a theoretically informed and systematic approach. Our findings reveal important targets for future interventions and may ultimately increase their effectiveness. Specifically, achieving optimal teamwork in the OR may require a multi-level intervention that addresses individual, team and systems-level factors with particular attention to complex social and professional hierarchies.