Conflicts in the open heart «kleinezeitung.at

According to one study, an operating room is "a microcosm of social trends typical of primates". Basically, conflicts are rare there.

05.00, 04. July 2018

At every workplace there is a row – even in operating theaters. Mostly people of the same sex get together, the researchers determined. In addition, conflicts in the operating room are usually caused by employees who are higher in the hierarchy.

The most likely problem is when the treating surgeon is a man and the surgical team is predominantly male. National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Researchers led by Laura Jones of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, observed the behavior of participants in 200 operations from 2014 to 2016. They recorded a total of 6,348 spontaneous social communication events without technical information on content

Conflicts are rare

"The behaviors in the collaboration category were the most frequently observed (59.0% of messages), rare conflicts (2, 8%)," write they. Other topics revolved around the personal lives of those involved, current events, or popular culture.

The researchers studied the conflicts more closely, of which 98% were of low level, like verbal interruptions. "Based on what we know about other species as well as human anthropology, rivalries and conflicts are more typical both inside and between the sexes," says Jones.

Mainly the boss starts

An important role is played Status in the hierarchy: In 80% of all conflicts, the newbie had a higher status, in two-thirds of the cases the conflict came from the attending surgeon . According to the researchers, the hierarchy is: surgeon, assistant surgeon, anesthesiologist, surgical nurse (non-sterile and sterile sister).

"Our results show that the operating room is a microcosm of social trends typical of primates," says Frans de Waal. from Emory University, lead author of the study. The goal was to use evolutionary biology techniques and concepts to understand how people interact with each other in the operating room. The conclusion: In addition to the pronounced social side, which is related to human psychology, there is our long development as social primates, which we must keep in mind. Binding rules could help increase the level of cooperation in OPs.