title: Improving teamwork climate in operating theatres: the shift from multiprofessionalismto interprofessionalism.
abstract: A multi-faceted, longitudinal and prospective collaborative inquiry was initiated in December 2002 with one half of the cohort of operating theatre personnel in a large, acute UK hospital serving a mainly rural population. The same intervention was introduced in January 2004 to the other half of the cohort. The project aims to improve patient safety through a structured educational intervention focussed upon changing teamwork practices. This article reports one critical element of the larger project - changing teamwork climate as a necessary precursor to establishing an interprofessional teamwork culture. The aggregate of individual, unidirectional attitude changes across a large cohort constitutes a change in climate. This shift challenges the conventional culture of multiprofessionalism, where uniprofessional identification (the "silo" mentality) is traditionally strong.
authors.affiliation: Peninsula Medical School, Institute of Clinical Education, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, Cornwall, UK. alan.bleakley@pms.ac.uk
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bleakley
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boyden
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hobbs
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allard
mesh_terms: D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D006113:United Kingdom