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What is the context of this research?

It is estimated that close to 100, 000 lives are lost a year due to teamwork complications within the cardiovascular operating room. These lives are lost due to preventable errors which could have been avoided.

What is the significance of this project?

This research project concentrates on interruptions inside the operating room that can create environments of error. Previous research has shown that there are ways to capture these interruptions and categorize them so that hospitals and surgical teams can be educated as to where to allocate resources to improve the atmosphere and teamwork during surgery, all for the goal of improving patient safety.

The healthcare system sometimes follows outdated rules or protocols without reason. The healthcare industry must be driven by empirical data. Using a data driven approach demands that medical professionals follow the best strategies for patient care. Research which can provide concrete evidence for the implementation of rules, regulations, and protocol can increase efficiency and patient safety. An open heart surgery can last from 3-7 hours long. Theory suggests that the longer a patient is under anesthesia and/or on bypass (meaning the heart is stopped) the more difficult it is for the patient to recover. Interuptions prolong this time period. This research wants to uncover those interputions and provide solutions to reduce the window of opportunity for error.

What are the goals of the project?

The immediate goal of the research is to collect data from different hospitals across the nation. From this data, our team will confer with the hospitals and surgical teams to make recommendations as to how to improve efficiency and patient safety inside their surgical suites. Additionally, our team will be publishing multiple papers addressing the interruptions and possible solutions to implement in the Cardiovascular Operating Room to multiple journals