AORN journal
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A culture of patient safety requires commitment and full participation from all staff members. In 2008, results of a culture of patient safety survey conducted in the perioperative division of the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania revealed a lack of patient-centered focus, teamwork, and positive communication. As a result, perioperative leaders assembled a multidisciplinary team that designed a safety training program focusing on Crew Resource Management, TeamSTEPPS, and communication techniques. ⋯ Topics included using preprocedural briefings and postprocedural debriefings, conflict resolution, and assertiveness techniques. Postcourse evaluations showed that the majority of respondents believed they were better able to question the decisions or actions of someone with more authority. The facility has experienced a marked decrease in the number of incidents requiring a root cause analysis since the program was conducted.
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Disruptive behavior among health care providers has been linked to negative patient outcomes. High-stress areas, including the perioperative setting, are especially prone to this behavior. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate an educational communication skills intervention aimed at increasing the perceived self-efficacy of perioperative nurses to address disruptive physician behavior. ⋯ By using paired t test analysis, I found that there was a statistically significant increase in total mean self-efficacy scores immediately after the intervention and four weeks after the intervention. In addition, four weeks after the intervention, participants reported the ability to address disruptive physician behavior 71% of the time. The results of this study suggest that one intervention strategy to address the serious threat of disruptive physician behavior to patient safety is to educate nurses in communication skills.