What surgeons want in operating rooms

The wishes of surgeons for their operating rooms (ORs) are similar in principle to those of other workers for their work place - to be able to do their work accurately, productively, safely, and with satisfaction. To determine these wishes 40 Australian surgeons were asked what changes they would like in their operating rooms. From their responses there were 349 separate comments defined. Each comment was labeled with a keyword which was used to sort them into categories using a spreadsheet. Within each category labels were modified as appropriate and sorting was repeated several times until the groupings appeared stable. Feedback was sought from participants after circulating the collated results by email. Not surprisingly, there were problems in many areas - equipment, lighting and OR planning. Altogether there were 36 different categories of comment, with half of them having six or fewer respondents. The analysis clarified the problems of surgeons, and yielded some that were not expected. The results provide a useful tool for informing equipment designers and administrators of necessary changes. Further research with a larger number of subjects, and perhaps a prompt list, may yield additional significant information.