Association between OR teamwork and checklist performance

Editor's Note

Surgeon buy-in and OR teamwork characterized by shared clinical leadership, open communication, active coordination, and mutual respect related positively to case-related conversation prompts, but not to completing procedural checks, this study finds.

A total of 207 procedures in 10 South Carolina hospitals were included in the study.

The findings show the importance of surgeon engagement and high-quality, consistent teamwork for promoting checklist use, the authors say.

Studies show that using surgical safety checklists (SSCs) reduces complications. Many believe SSCs accomplish this by enhancing teamwork, but evidence is limited. Our study sought to relate teamwork to checklist performance, understand how they relate, and determine conditions that affect this relationship.