Team Communications in the Operating Room

Key Points

• To identify observable patterns and recurrent themes of communication tension within operating room teams and assess how novice staff respond to these conflicts.
• Observed interprofessional team communication patterns and thematic sources of tension during surgical procedures.
• Evaluated the behavioral and communicative responses of novice team members during episodes of operating room conflict.
• Operating room team communications follow observable, recurring patterns that highlight specific sites of interprofessional tension.
• Tension in team interactions adversely affects novice team members, eliciting behavioral responses that intensify rather than resolve existing conflicts.