PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Brigid M Gillespie
AU  - Emma Harbeck
AU  - Evelyn Kang
AU  - Catherine Steel
AU  - Nicole Fairweather
AU  - Wendy Chaboyer
TI  - Correlates of non-technical skills in surgery: a prospective study
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014480
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e014480
VI  - 7
IP  - 1
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/1/e014480.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/1/e014480.full
SO  - BMJ Open2017 Jan 01; 7
AB  - Background Communication and teamwork failures have frequently been identified as the root cause of adverse events and complications in surgery. Few studies have examined contextual factors that influence teams’ non-technical skills (NTS) in surgery. The purpose of this prospective study was to identify and describe correlates of NTS.Methods We assessed NTS of teams and professional role at 2 hospitals using the revised 23-item Non-TECHnical Skills (NOTECHS) and its subscales (communication, situational awareness, team skills, leadership and decision-making). Over 6 months, 2 trained observers evaluated teams’ NTS using a structured form. Interobserver agreement across hospitals ranged from 86% to 95%. Multiple regression models were developed to describe associations between operative time, team membership, miscommunications, interruptions, and total NOTECHS and subscale scores.Results We observed 161 surgical procedures across 8 teams. The total amount of explained variance in NOTECHS and its 5 subscales ranged from 14% (adjusted R2 0.12, p<0.001) to 24% (adjusted R2 0.22, p<0.001). In all models, inverse relationships between the total number of miscommunications and total number of interruptions and teams’ NTS were observed.Conclusions Miscommunications and interruptions impact on team NTS performance.