title: Anesthesiologists' perceptions of minimum acceptable work habits of nurse anesthetists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Work habits are non-technical skills that are an important part of job performance. Although non-technical skills are usually evaluated on a relative basis (i.e., "grading on a curve"), validity of evaluation on an absolute basis (i.e., "minimum passing score") needs to be determined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey and observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  The theme of "work habits" was assessed using a modification of Dannefer et al.'s 6-item scale, with scores ranging from 1 (lowest performance) to 5 (highest performance). E-mail invitations were sent to all consultant and fellow anesthesiologists at Mayo Clinic in Florida, Arizona, and Minnesota. Because work habits expectations can be generational, the survey was designed for adjustment based on all invited (responding or non-responding) anesthesiologists' year of graduation from residency.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall mean±standard deviation of the score for anesthesiologists' minimum expectations of nurse anesthetists' work habits was 3.64±0.66 (N=48). Minimum acceptable scores were correlated with the year of graduation from anesthesia residency (linear regression P=0.004). Adjusting for survey non-response using all N=207 anesthesiologists, the mean of the minimum acceptable work habits adjusted for year of graduation was 3.69 (standard error 0.02). The minimum expectations for nurse anesthetists' work habits were compared with observational data obtained from the University of Iowa. Among 8940 individual nurse anesthetist work habits scores, only 2.6% were <3.69. All N=65 of the Iowa nurse anesthetists' mean work habits scores were significantly greater than the Mayo estimate (3.69) for the minimum expectations; all P<0.00024.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that routinely evaluated work habits of nurse anesthetists within departments should not be compared with an appropriate minimum score (i.e., of 3.69). Instead, work habits scores should be analyzed based on relative reporting among anesthetists.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Department of Anesthesiology, 14390 Mayo Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. Electronic address: logvinov.ilana@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Ilana I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Logvinov
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Department of Anesthesia, Division of Management Consulting, 200 Hawkins Drive, 6-JCP, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Electronic address: Franklin-Dexter@UIowa.edu.
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dexter
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Department of Anesthesia, 200 Hawkins Drive, 6-JCP, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Electronic address: Brad-Hindman@UIowa.edu.
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Hindman
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Department of Anesthesiology, 14390 Mayo Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. Electronic address: sjbrull@me.com.
authors.forename: Sorin J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Brull
mesh_terms: D000072080:Anesthesiologists / Q000523:psychology*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000592:standards; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009719:Nurse Anesthetists / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D011364:Professional Practice; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Nurse anesthetists; Performance evaluation; Work habits