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The Relationship Between Teamwork and Patient Safety

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Abstract

Effective teamwork and communication are central to successful, timely surgical care that is safe, of high quality, and patient centered. Effective teaming in the operating room and across the perioperative care continuum is related to clinical patient outcomes, patient perceptions of their care experience, care costs, and provider outcomes like burnout and job satisfaction. This chapter synthesizes core definitions of teams and teamwork, describes core models of team performance, presents practical principles for effective teaming, and highlights current evidence concerning interventions designed to develop and support effective teaming in surgery.

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“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”

—Babe Ruth

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Correspondence to Sallie J. Weaver PhD, MHS .

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Weaver, S.J., Benishek, L.E., Leeds, I., Wick, E.C. (2017). The Relationship Between Teamwork and Patient Safety. In: Sanchez, J., Barach, P., Johnson, J., Jacobs, J. (eds) Surgical Patient Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44010-1_5

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