Nontechnical Skills for Intraoperative Team Members

Michael R Mathis; Allison M Janda; Steven J Yule; Roger D Dias; Donald S Likosky; Francis D Pagani; Korana Stakich-Alpirez; Fiona M Kerray; Megan L Schultz; David Fitzgerald; David Sturmer; Milisa Manojlovich; Sarah L Krein; Matthew D Caldwell

doi:10.1016/j.anclin.2023.03.013

Nontechnical Skills for Intraoperative Team Members

Anesthesiol Clin. 2023 Dec;41(4):803-818. doi: 10.1016/j.anclin.2023.03.013. Epub 2023 Apr 18.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: mathism@med.umich.edu.
² Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
³ Department of Clinical Surgery, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, Scotland.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁵ Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁶ Department of Clinical Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina College of Health Professions, A 151 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston, SC 29403, USA.
⁷ Department of Perfusion, University of Michigan Medical School, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁸ School of Nursing, University of Michigan, 426 N Ingalls Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA.
⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan and Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA.

Abstract

Nontechnical skills, defined as the set of cognitive and social skills used by individuals and teams to reduce error and improve performance in complex systems, have become increasingly recognized as a key contributor to patient safety. Efforts to characterize, quantify, and teach nontechnical skills in the context of perioperative care continue to evolve. This review article summarizes the essential behaviors for safety, described in taxonomies for nontechnical skills assessments developed for intraoperative clinical team members (eg, surgeons, anesthesiologists, scrub practitioners, perfusionists). Furthermore, the authors describe emerging methods to advance understanding of the impact of nontechnical skills on perioperative outcomes.

Keywords: High-reliability organizations; Human factors; Nontechnical skills; Patient safety; Perioperative quality improvement.

Nontechnical Skills for Intraoperative Team Members

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