Effective Leadership of Surgical Teams: A Mixed Methods Study of Surgeon Behaviors and Functions

Stone, Juliana; Aveling, Emma‐Louise; Frean, Molly; Shields, Morgan C.; Wright, Cameron D.; Gino, Francesca; Sundt, Thoralf M.; Singer, Sara J.

doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2017.01.021

Cited by 34 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Our findings also suggest the need for consensus-building and horizontal norming among attending surgeons (eg, through peer-to-peer observation, or use of leadership behavior profiling tools) [14] to raise awareness of differences in leadership behaviors among attendings. Further research to better establish associations between interpersonal team and leadership behaviors and objective outcomes would also inform and motivate interventions.…”

Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…We conducted semistructured interviews in a mixed-methods study of leadership and team dynamics in cardiac surgery operating rooms (ORs) [14] . The setting was a cardiac surgery division in an academic medical center performing more than 1,000 operations with cardiopulmonary bypass annually in which mortality and morbidity rates consistently meet or exceed national benchmarks ( http://www.sts.org/national-database ), but prior survey data suggested room for improvement in team dynamics such as psychological safety and burnout [14] .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors Influencing Team Behaviors in Surgery: A Qualitative Study to Inform Teamwork Interventions

Aveling

Stone

Sundt

et al. 2018

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

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BackgroundSurgical excellence demands teamwork. Poor team behaviors negatively affect team performance and are associated with adverse events and worse outcomes. Interventions to improve surgical teamwork focusing on frontline team members’ nontechnical skills have proliferated but shown mixed results. Literature on teamwork in organizations suggests that team behaviors are also contingent on psychosocial, cultural, and organizational factors. This study examined factors influencing surgical team behaviors to inform more contextually sensitive and effective approaches to optimizing surgical teamwork.MethodsThis qualitative study of cardiac surgical teams in a large United States teaching hospital included 34 semistructured interviews. Thematic network analysis was used to examine perceptions of ideal teamwork and factors influencing team behaviors in the operating room.ResultsPerceptions of ideal teamwork were largely shared, but team members held discrepant views of which team and leadership behaviors enhanced or undermined teamwork. Other factors affecting team behaviors were related to the local organizational culture, including management of staff behavior, variable case demands, and team members’ technical competence, and fitness of organizational structures and processes to support teamwork. These factors affected perceptions of what constituted optimal interpersonal and team behaviors in the operating room.ConclusionsTeam behaviors are contextually contingent and organizationally determined, and beliefs about optimal behaviors are not necessarily shared. Interventions to optimize surgical teamwork require establishing consensus regarding best practice, ability to adapt as circumstances require, and organizational commitment to addressing contextual factors that affect teams.

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Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Team Behaviors in Surgery: A Qualitative Study to Inform Teamwork Interventions

Aveling

Stone

Sundt

et al. 2018

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

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“…The tasks of each member are clearly defined. The level of leadership is particularly pronounced in the surgical team in operating theater [31]. The work of the surgical team has a direct impact on patient outcome.…”

Section: The Surgical Team In Operating Theatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Teamwork in a Surgical Department

Ramadanov¹

2021

Teamwork in Healthcare

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Teamwork is essential in surgery. A surgeon alone cannot fulfill his daily tasks. Surgical departments are divided into surgical teams: the surgical team in the operating theater, the surgical ward team, and the surgical emergency team. The common task of those teams is adequate patient care. The characteristics of team members describe necessary abilities such as: open communication, effective coordination skills, collaboration willingness, interdependency, mutual performance monitoring, backup behavior, adaptability, team orientation, and personality type. Team processes are recurring and ongoing short-term courses that occur in the team. The team developmental model separates the development of a team in four stages over a longer period of time. In the last stage, the team reaches the highest level of teamwork performance. Each team must be assessed for their nontechnical skills with team measurement tools. Surgical teams are insufficiently measured. There are possible disadvantages in teamwork, which must be considered and discussed versus the obvious benefits. Leadership is a process where the leading team member sets the direction for the others. There are different styles of leadership, whereby the dominant role of the leader is more or less pronounced. Leadership and teamwork are not contradicting characteristics of teams in the surgical department.

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“…Hence, the most successful leaders tend to be those who are sensitive to the context and circumstances in which they find themselves. Typically, they are able to adjust their leadership style to match the needs of those being led and the circumstances . This adjustment requires self‐awareness and emotional intelligence .…”

Section: Natural Adjusted and Preferred Leadership Stylesmentioning

confidence: 99%