Qualitative analysis of barriers to efficient operating room turnovers in a tertiary care academic medical center.

BACKGROUND: The operating room (OR) turnover is a critical period in patient care and OR management. Turnover time (TOT) is a traditional quantitative measure of OR efficiency but is lacking when used to describe the TOT process.
METHODS: Frontline staff members involved with OR turnover were interviewed regarding turnover duties, barriers to performing these duties, ways to facilitate these duties, and satisfaction with the turnover process. A grounded theory approach was used to identify common themes, which were then tabulated.
RESULTS: Interviews were completed for 38 frontline staff, including anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, and OR assistants. We identified the following common themes among barriers to successful OR turnover: communications, patient transport, preoperative preparations, staffing, workflow, and workload.
CONCLUSIONS: Interview data of OR staff can supplement quantitative efficiency measures and identify areas of opportunity in OR management and patient safety.