The surgical time-out: the relationship between perceptions of a safety-task anchor and surgical team workflow

Background The surgical time-out is a critical safety measure used in the operating room (OR). We examined the mediating relationship of the length of the time-out between team perceived usefulness of the time-out, and the rate at which the circulating nurse left the OR to retrieve instruments. Methods 60 cardiac surgical teams were observed performing their work. The length of the time-out and the rate at which the circulating nurse left the OR was obtained by observation of the surgical team. We administered a survey with a 7-point Likert scale to assess the surgical staff’s perceived usefulness of the time-out at the end of the surgery. An analysis was conducted to test if length of the time-out mediated the relationship between perceived usefulness of the time-out and rate at which the nurse leaves the OR to retrieve an instrument useful for the surgery. Results The relationship of the length of the time-out with the rate at which the nurse leaves the OR was non-significant (β = 0.089, p = .496). However, the relationship between perceived usefulness of the time-out with the length of the time-out was significant (β = 0.346, p < .05) and the effect between perceived usefulness of the time-out and the rate at which the nurse left the OR was statistically significant (β= − 0.424, p = < 0.001). Conclusion In this study we explore how surgical teams’ attitudes towards the usefulness of the time-out affect its utilization, and how attitudes about time-outs are related to the important process measure of rate at which the circulating nurse leaves the OR. The full mediation model was not supported by the data; however, there appears to be a relationship between the perceived usefulness of the time-out and the rate at which the circulating nurse leaves the OR.