Why theatre teams should introduce themselves by name and role
Who is in your theatre today, and does everyone in the room know their name and role?
New Zealand's Health Quality & Safety Commission publishes a guide to surgical teamwork and communication (August 2021). It recommends that team members introduce themselves by name and role at the briefing and again at the time out. Read the guide. This is a practical habit you can start on your next list if you don't already that is.
Why names and roles matter
Theatre teams change daily. Agency, locum and rotating staff join lists with people they have never met. If you only know a colleague as "the scout" or "the new anaesthetic nurse", it is harder to ask for help, hand over a concern or call for a pause.
A name and a role takes about ten seconds per person. It tells the team who holds which task. It also makes it easier for a junior or newer team member to speak up, because they have already spoken once in front of the room.
How to make it work on your list
These are suggestions from practice, not requirements from the guide. Adapt them to your hospital's policy.
Say your first name and your role for this case. For example: "Sam, scrub scout nurse." Keep it to one sentence.
Include everyone in the room, including students, observers and rep staff. Anyone who can affect the case should be named.
Do it at the briefing, before the patient arrives, so nobody is introducing themselves under time pressure. Repeat it at the time out, because people often join or swap during the case.
Leave a beat for questions. If someone is unsure of a role, the briefing is the time to clarify it.
One more reason to do it at the time out as well: roles can change mid-list. A relief nurse may take over scrub or scout, or an extra pair of hands may join for a complex case. Naming the new person and their role again keeps the whole team aligned and gives everyone a clear point of contact.
If you lead a team
Model it first. When the most senior person introduces themselves by name and role, others follow. If the habit lapses, raise it at your next team meeting rather than correcting people in the room.
If you work across several sites, check the local briefing and time out process before the list starts. Practice differs between hospitals and between Australia and New Zealand.
Your turn
Does your team introduce everyone by name and role at the briefing and the time out? Reply with one of these: every list, most lists, sometimes, or rarely. If you have a tip that works in your theatre, add it in the comments.
This article is general information from a published guide and workplace practice. It is not clinical advice. Follow your own hospital's policies and the guidance of your professional body.
Source: Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand, Improving surgical teamwork and communication: a guide to preparing and implementing (August 2021). View the PDF
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