Surgery ·
OR professionals identify teamwork practices for robotic-assisted surgery
A qualitative interview study of 21 operating-room professionals at two teaching hospitals explored teamwork during robotic-assisted surgery. Participants emphasized structured preparation and explicit communication, coordination and shared understanding during procedures.
- Interviews covered 21 OR professionals at two teaching hospitals.
- Participants emphasized structured preoperative planning.
- Explicit communication and bedside coordination featured in accounts.
- The study did not measure patient or operative outcomes.
Researchers conducted critical incident-based, semi-structured interviews with 21 operating-room professionals in different roles and specialties at two teaching hospitals using a closed-console robotic-assisted surgery system. Reflexive thematic analysis grouped participants’ accounts of effective and ineffective teamwork across the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative phases.
Before surgery, participants highlighted deliberate planning, including team briefings, equipment checks, agreement on procedural steps, and patient and robot positioning. During procedures, they described closed-loop communication, real-time narration, verbal prompts, team reflection, coordination by a bedside assistant, psychological safety and shared mental models as important features of effective teamwork. After surgery, participants linked teamwork quality with patient safety and operative efficiency.
The findings offer practitioner perspectives on teamwork in robotic-assisted surgery and may help inform team training. They do not establish that the reported practices improve clinical outcomes: the study was qualitative, involved a small purposive sample from two teaching hospitals, and captured participants’ accounts rather than measuring patient safety or operative efficiency. Applicability to other settings and robotic systems is uncertain.
In practice
For teams performing robotic-assisted surgery, participants identified structured briefings, equipment and positioning checks, closed-loop communication, real-time narration and clear bedside coordination as teamwork practices they perceived as effective. These qualitative accounts may inform local team discussions or training, but they do not demonstrate that adopting these practices improves patient safety or operative efficiency. The sample came from 21 professionals at two teaching hospitals using a closed-console system, so findings may not transfer to other settings or platforms.
AI-generated clinical interpretation · Not editor-reviewed
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Surgical Endoscopy: Effective and ineffective teamwork in robotic-assisted surgery: operating room professionals’ accounts ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.