Dealing with unforeseen complexity in the OR: the role of heedful interrelating in medical teams
article
Highly complex operations such as paediatric cardiac surgery operations are characterised by many non-routine events. This study looked in detail at 40 paediatric cardiac cases in order to study how a highly competent team deals with the unforeseen complexity arising during these cases. A multi-method approach was used, employing questionnaires and direct team observations. Our results show that this particular team relied to a large extent on explicit coordination processes in order to deal with non-routine events. Non-routine events were strong predictors of explicit coordination processes, even when we controlled for the duration of the operation. Most non-routine events were noticed and dealt with through routine procedures. For dealing with the remaining difficult problems, processes such as heedful interrelating are required.
Topics
TNO Identifier
429082
Source
Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 12(May), pp. 256-272.
Pages
256-272
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