• Marc T Pimentel, Hugh Flanagan, Beverly K Philip, and Richard D Urman.
• J Med Pract Manage. 2015 Mar 1;30(6 Spec No):30-5.

BackgroundThe operating room (OR) turnover is a critical period in patient care and OR management. Turnover time (TOT) is a traditional quantitative measure of OR efficiency but is lacking when used to describe the TOT process.MethodsFrontline staff members involved with OR turnover were interviewed regarding turnover duties, barriers to performing these duties, ways to facilitate these duties, and satisfaction with the turnover process. A grounded theory approach was used to identify common themes, which were then tabulated.ResultsInterviews were completed for 38 frontline staff, including anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, and OR assistants. We identified the following common themes among barriers to successful OR turnover: communications, patient transport, preoperative preparations, staffing, workflow, and workload.ConclusionsInterview data of OR staff can supplement quantitative efficiency measures and identify areas of opportunity in OR management and patient safety.

13 keywords...

hide…