The Impact of Operating Room Distractions on Stress, Workload, and Teamwork

Our Take

Distractions in the OR are associated with higher mental workload and stress and poorer teamwork among OR personnel, a study finds.

The most prevalent distractions were those from external staff, followed by case-irrelevant conversations.

Case-irrelevant conversations initiated by surgeons were associated with lower teamwork in surgeons and anesthesiologists.

Equipment-related distractions correlated with higher stress and lower teamwork in nurses. Acoustic distractions were linked to higher stress in surgeons and higher workload in anesthesiologists.

Objective: To investigate whether distractions in the operating room (OR) are associated with higher mental workload and stress, and poorer teamwork among OR personnel. Irrelevant conversations initiated by surgeons were associated with lower teamwork in surgeons (across team skills: r = 0.44 to 0.58, P < 0.05 to 0.01) and anesthesiologists (r = 0.38 and r = 0.40, for coordination and leadership; P < 0.05).

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