Team member familiarity and team effectiveness in the operating room: The mediating effect of mutual trust and shared mental models (17 July 2024)

Summary

Teamwork in the operating room is very important for high-quality patient care. It has been shown that increased team member familiarity predicts improved teamwork and is associated with shared mental models and mutual trust, which are in turn important factors for team effectiveness. The aim of this study in Surgery was to investigate the relationship between team member familiarity and perceived team effectiveness in operating room teams.

The authors found that greater team member familiarity predicts greater team effectiveness, and this relationship is mediated by shared mental models. They concluded that training should be aimed at these aspects of team functioning to optimise team performance in the operating room.