Journal of perioperative practice
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Elevated operating theatre noise can be hazardous to patient safety and may cause occupational stress. In a nine-hospital study, background noise and average noise were measured, during operations in different subspecialties, and found to be higher than noise levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for hospital areas in which patient care takes place. In operations in which nurses had also answered a question about hearing 'quiet', 'normal', and 'loud' talking, speech interference levels were estimated and indicated that nurses and other personnel had to substantially raise their voices to be well understood.
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What are 'non-technical' skills and why would they be relevant to theatre practitioners? This is a new area of research for healthcare based on a well developed approach from the world of aviation. Non-technical skills are the cognitive and social skills that complement technical skills to achieve safe and efficient practice in safety-critical occupations. These skills include communication, leadership, teamwork, stress management and situation awareness.