Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 16;16(1):47.
doi: 10.1186/s13017-021-00389-6.

Team dynamics in emergency surgery teams: results from a first international survey

Lorenzo Cobianchi #  1   2 , Francesca Dal Mas #  3 , Maurizio Massaro  4 , Paola Fugazzola  5 , Federico Coccolini  6   7 , Yoram Kluger  8 , Ari Leppäniemi  9 , Ernest E Moore  10 , Massimo Sartelli  11 , Peter Angelos  12 , Fausto Catena  13 , Luca Ansaloni  14   5 ; Team Dynamics Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Team dynamics in emergency surgery teams: results from a first international survey

Lorenzo Cobianchi et al. World J Emerg Surg. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Emergency surgery represents a unique context. Trauma teams are often multidisciplinary and need to operate under extreme stress and time constraints, sometimes with no awareness of the trauma's causes or the patient's personal and clinical information. In this perspective, the dynamics of how trauma teams function is fundamental to ensuring the best performance and outcomes.

Methods: An online survey was conducted among the World Society of Emergency Surgery members in early 2021. 402 fully filled questionnaires on the topics of knowledge translation dynamics and tools, non-technical skills, and difficulties in teamwork were collected. Data were analyzed using the software R, and reported following the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES).

Results: Findings highlight how several surgeons are still unsure about the meaning and potential of knowledge translation and its mechanisms. Tools like training, clinical guidelines, and non-technical skills are recognized and used in clinical practice. Others, like patients' and stakeholders' engagement, are hardly implemented, despite their increasing importance in the modern healthcare scenario. Several difficulties in working as a team are described, including the lack of time, communication, training, trust, and ego.

Discussion: Scientific societies should take the lead in offering training and support about the abovementioned topics. Dedicated educational initiatives, practical cases and experiences, workshops and symposia may allow mitigating the difficulties highlighted by the survey's participants, boosting the performance of emergency teams. Additional investigation of the survey results and its characteristics may lead to more further specific suggestions and potential solutions.

Keywords: Knowledge translation; Non-technical skills; Team dynamics; Trauma leaders; Trauma teams.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests for this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Respondents per country
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Respondents per years of experience
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Word cloud analysis: the concept of knowledge translation
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Topic modelling analysis: the concept of knowledge translation
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Knowledge translation tools per importance
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Word cloud analysis: the relevance of non-technical skills
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Topic modelling analysis: the relevance of non-technical skills
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Word cloud analysis: the main difficulties for trauma teams
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Topic modelling analysis: the main difficulties for trauma teams
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kassam F, Cheong AR, Evans D, Singhal A. What attributes define excellence in a trauma team? A qualitative study. Can J Surg. 2019;62(6):450–453. doi: 10.1503/cjs.013418. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ford K, Menchine M, Burner E, Arora S, Inaba K, Demetriades D, et al. Leadership and teamwork in trauma and resuscitation. West J Emerg Med. 2016;17(5):549–556. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2016.7.29812. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dal Mas F, Garcia-Perez A, Sousa MJ, Lopes da Costa R, Cobianchi L. Knowledge translation in the healthcare sector. A structured literature review. Electron J Knowl Manag. 2020;18(3):198–211.
    1. Cobianchi L, Dal Mas F, Angelos P. One size does not fit all—translating knowledge to bridge the gaps to diversity and inclusion of surgical teams. Ann Surg. 2021;273(2):e34–e36. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004604. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dal Mas F, Biancuzzi H, Massaro M, Miceli L. Adopting a knowledge translation approach in healthcare co-production. A case study. Manag Decis. 2020;58(9):1841–1862. doi: 10.1108/MD-10-2019-1444. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources