title: A common body of care: the ethics and politics of teamwork in the operating theater are inseparable.
abstract: In the operating theater, the micro-politics of practice, such as interpersonal communications, are central to patient safety and are intimately tied with values as well as knowledge and skills. Team communication is a shared and distributed work activity. In an era of "professionalism," that must now encompass "interprofessionalism," a virtue ethics framework is often invoked to inform practice choices, with reference to phronesis or practical wisdom. However, such a framework is typically cast in individualistic terms as a character trait, rather than in terms of a distributed quality that may be constituted through intentionally collaborative practice, or is an emerging property of a complex, adaptive system. A virtue ethics approach is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a collaborative bioethics within the operating theater. There is also an ecological imperative-the patient's entry into the household (oikos) of the operating theater invokes the need for "hospitality" as a form of ethical practice.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Education, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro TR1 3HD, Cornwall, United Kingdom. alan.bleakley@pms.ac.uk
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bleakley
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D009872:Operating Room Technicians / Q000941:ethics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000941:ethics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D010684:Philosophy