Surgery
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This review examines the surgical and psychological literature on surgeons' intraoperative non-technical skills. These are the critical cognitive and interpersonal skills that complement surgeons' technical abilities. The objectives of this paper are (1) to identify the non-technical skills required by surgeons in the operating room and (2) assess the behavioral marker systems that have been developed for rating surgeons' non-technical skills. ⋯ Further work is required to develop a valid taxonomy of individual surgeons' non-technical skills for training and feedback.
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To better understand the operating room as a system and to identify system features that influence patient safety, we performed an analysis of operating room patient care using a prospective observational technique. ⋯ This study demonstrates the role of prospective observational methods in exposing critical system features that influence patient safety and that can be the targets for patient safety initiatives. Communication breakdown and information loss, as well as increased workload and competing tasks, pose the greatest threats to patient safety in the operating room.
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The educational experience in the operating room is considered the centerpiece of learning for surgical residents. The educational environment is defined as the "ethos" or "climate" that affects all aspects of learning within an educational setting. A measure of the educational environment in the operating room as perceived by residents would assist educators and trainees in gauging the quality of the learning occurring within this important venue. The Operating Room Educational Environment Measure (OREEM) was adapted from an inventory validated for use with basic surgical trainees in Scotland to determine whether an inventory specifically adapted to the specialized environment of the operating room can produce a valid assessment of trainee perception of the overall educational environment and the contributing factors therein at a North American institution. ⋯ The OREEM has potential to be applied further as a quality assessment tool whose results could be used by faculty and program directors to improve the learning experiences of residents in the operating room.