Designing a Coaching Tool for Optimizing Cardiac Operating Room (cOR) Team Communication

Abstract

Effective team communication is crucial for achieving optimal performance and ensuring patient safety in the cardiac operating room (cOR). However, communication challenges within multidisciplinary teams in this context have been underexplored. This dissertation aims to address this gap by conducting two stages of a study that investigate the multidisciplinary aspects of team communication and propose the design of coaching tool technology to enhance the effectiveness of communication.In the first stage, the complex nature of team communication within the cOR setting is examined through qualitative data collected via in-depth interviews with individual team members of cOR team. The in-depth semi-structured interviews used open-ended questions and a co-created journey map to effectively elicit the pain points and needs of team communication without introducing bias. Findings reveal how team members from different disciplines navigate communication challenges arising from their individual and collaborative tasks. The study identifies the concept of “integrated workflow” as a design theme that can enhance team communication by bridging the boundaries between disciplines. This concept offers valuable insights into addressing communication issues and improving team dynamics in the cOR. Building upon the insights gained from stage one, stage two focuses on designing a team-based coaching tool prototype tailored to the needs of cOR team members. The prototype is designed to elicit user’s ideas for interactive learning opportunities for both individual and collaborative tasks across disciplines. In this second stage, qualitative data is collected through prototype exploratory sessions and follow-up interviews. The follow-up semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions facilitate reflection on communication challenges when working with new trainees and encourage brainstorming for content and feature improvements. Through an exploratory user study utilizing a low-fidelity prototype, the importance of considering team dynamics and integrated workflow as design factors for cOR coaching tool technologies is empirically demonstrated. The implications derived from both stages of this study contribute to the planning of future research, highlighting the significance of integrating multidisciplinary perspectives and addressing team dynamics in the design of coaching tool technologies. This dissertation aims to advance our understanding of team communication in the cOR and provide valuable insights for the development of effective coaching tool technologies.