The Operating Theatre Journal - Flipbook - Page 25
by effectively delegating tasks to the appropriate person at the right time, and by using concise orders and being assertive. Another important
non-technical skill they showed was regularly asking for and giving updates of information by vocalising this with the team to establish a united
clear understanding of what is happening. This positive leadership again contributed to how the team worked so well together to care for the
patient.
Human factors are increased by fatigue and night shift work, this has been extensively researched and discussed, for example by Harrington (2001)
who focuses on the effect of night shift work on circadian rhythms and how that affects performance. When working during the night, a person’s
natural eating and sleeping habits are changed which can have some severe effects on the bodily functions such as what hormones are produced,
regulation of body temperature, and affects the brain in terms of attention span and memory capacity. These added on top of potential sleep
deprivation from struggling to sleep during the day before a shift can all contribute to human factors which hugely impact ef昀椀ciency of practice.
Therefore, this explains to a certain extent my reaction to this event. I was emotional due to my heightened hormones and having to 昀椀ght the
instincts of my body wanting to shut down, as normally at that time of night I would be curled up in bed asleep. I am proud of myself for still
managing to continue with the CPR and not let the emotions and sleep deprivation hinder me from persevering and gaining such a good learning
experience. Thankfully it appeared that the rest of my team also managed to 昀椀ght with the symptoms of working the night shift and avoided those
torturous human factors which could of lead to a very different experience. We all worked to the best of our ability within the circumstances and
were all very supportive of each other and recognised our achievements. A team full of experienced practitioners doesn’t always work together
well, but we all came together as an expert team, rather than a team of experts (Burke et al, 2004).
Conclusion
I have learned a substantial amount from this experience, which I can take forwards in future placements and my future career as an ODP. One
of the most signi昀椀cant things I have taken away from this, is the importance of debrie昀椀ng with colleagues and family and friends. It is such a
bene昀椀cial and important attribute for everyone, but especially for those in healthcare who take on such tasks that are both physically and
mentally challenging. Debrie昀椀ng with my colleagues after doing CPR was so advantageous for me, as it allowed me to process everything, and I
gained valuable knowledge from them. They helped me understand what I did well and how I can do things better if I do it again. I have learned
from this, that if you don’t throw yourself into something, you could miss out on a great opportunity to learn, and it helped me gain the con昀椀dence
to indulge myself in more learning opportunities. Not only did this experience allow me to gain some vital clinical skills, but it also taught me how
to control and process my emotions and showed me how essential it is to have a supportive network of people around me.
Action Plan
If the same situation aroused in the future, I could only hope I would have another team with such great interprofessional collaboration skills, task
management, leadership, communication, and just impressive overall team dynamics. I would still push myself to get involved, but hopefully if it
happened again, I would not be so overwhelmed and be more proactive initially by wanting to get involved. I don’t think being detached from the
event is a positive thing as a practitioner’s caring nature is vital for patient care. Next time, I will not be so afraid to ask to be involved as I know
that it is important for me to experience things in real life rather than just learning from a PowerPoint. I know that having support as a student
and having the freedom to make mistakes without being judged is an asset to me and I need take advantage of it before I become quali昀椀ed, and
more is expected from me.
Reference list
Burke, C, S. Salas, E. Wilson-Donnelly, K. and Priest, H. (2004) ‘How to turn a team of experts into an expert medical team: guidance from
the aviation and military communities.’ Qual Saf Health Care. 13(1), pp, 96-104. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC1765796/, (Accessed 17th April 2023)
Engel, C and Gursky, E. (2003) ‘Management and interprofessional collaboration’, in: Leathard, A. (Eds) Interprofessional Collaboration. East
Sussex: Routledge
Harrington, J, M. (2001) ‘Health effects of shift work and extended hours of work’, Occupational and Environmental medicine, 58 (1). Available
at: https://oem.bmj.com/content/58/1/68, (Accessed 7th March 2023)
Health and Care Professions Council (2014) Standards of Pro昀椀ciency for Operating Department Practitioners. Available at: https://www.hcpc-uk.
org/resources/standards/standards-of-pro昀椀ciency-operating-department-practitioners/, (Accessed 25th January 2023)
Jasper, M (2003) Beginning Re昀氀ective Practice. London: Nelson Thornes
Joyce, P. (2014) ‘Re昀氀ection for Operating Department Practitioners’, in: Abbot, H and Booth, H. Foundations for Operating Department
Practice, Berkshire: Open University Press.
Pearson, M and Smith, D. (1985) ‘Debrie昀椀ng in Experience-based learning’, in: Boud, D. Keogh, R. Walker, D. Re昀氀ection: Turning Experience into
Learning, Oxford: Routledge.
Peyre, S, E. (2014) Operation Room Team Training Collaborative: Closed Loop Communication. Available at: https://www.rmf.harvard.edu/RiskPrevention-and-Education/Article-Detail-Page/Articles/2014/CRICO-Operating-Room-Team-Training-Collaborative-Closed-Loop-Communication,
(Accessed 15th February 2023)
Royal College of Nursing (2021) Debate: Nurse Debrie昀椀ng. Available at: https://www.rcn.org.uk/congress/congress-events/nurse-debrie昀椀ng,
(Accessed 16th February 2023)
Royal College of Physicians (2017) Improving teams in healthcare. Available at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web
&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwihhYvq3bH-AhWzoFwKHR1aBxQQFnoECBEQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rcplondon.ac.uk%2F昀椀le%2F8202%2Fdownload&usg=A
OvVaw3K3yKe2dXwUEbKp3caFyJM, (Accessed 17th April 2023)
Salik, I and Ashurst, J, V. (2022) Closed Loop Communication Training in Medical Simulation. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/
NBK549899/, (Accessed 15th February 2023)
University of Aberdeen, (2012) Anaesthetist’s Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) System Handbook. Available at: https://research.abdn.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/sites/14/2019/03/ANTS-Handbook-2012-1.pdf#:~:text=The%20Anaesthetists’%20Non-Technical%20Skills%20%28ANTS%29%20
System%20is%20a,it%20is%20not%20recommended%20for%20formal%20summative%20assessment., (Accessed 15th February 2023)
University of Aberdeen (2015) Anaesthetic Non-Technical Skills for Anaesthetic Practitioners (ANTS-AP). Available at: https://www.ceeiade.fr/
wp-content/uploads/ANTS-AP-book-V1.pdf, (Accessed 10th February 2023)
University of Edinburgh (2020) Gibbs’ Re昀氀ective Cycle. Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/re昀氀ection/re昀氀ectors-toolkit/re昀氀ecting-on-experience/
gibbs-re昀氀ective-cycle, (Accessed 25th January 2023)
University of Hull (2022) Re昀氀ective writing: Schön. Available at: https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/re昀氀ectivewriting/schon, (Accessed 12th April 2023)
Vickers, R. (2011) ‘Five steps to safer surgery’ Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 93(7), pp. 501-503. Available at: https://
publishing.rcseng.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1308/147870811X599334, (Accessed 16th February 2023)
Jorja Scales, Student ODP.
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