GruKoo

Coordination and leadership in…

In our research projects we study how medical teams coordinate their work and how the quality of team coordination and leadership affects patient safety. In collaboration with the Center for Anaesthesiology, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Göttingen, we focus on resuscitation and anaesthesia teams. Based on a functional model of team coordination, we test whether adaptation of coordination mechanism to changing situational requirements (e.g. routine vs complication phases) by using specialised software for analysing team behaviour in detail.

... resuscitation teams.

The probability of successful resuscitation after cardiac arrest depends on different factors. In addition to medical knowledge so called “human factors“, i.e. coordination, leadership, communication, stress management, in the emergency team contribute substantially to successful resuscitation.

Relationships between human factors and the quality of resuscitation are experimentally tested as part of student education at the simulation centre of the University clinic of Göttingen.

... anaesthesiological teams.

At the simulation centre of the University clinic of Göttingen the correlations between coordination, communication, leadership and treatment quality in anaesthesia teams are examined within the weekly classes for medical students during their practical year. Our data collection methods (behavioural coding of videographed team sessions) enable to evaluate the process on a micro-level and identify effective behavioural patterns in the team.

Furthermore data about intra- and interpersonal perception of the working process and about other team members is collected by means of (by using, by analysing) videotaped interviews with team members.

Publications

• Fernandez Castelao, E., Boos M., Ringer, C., Eich, C. & Russo, S.G. (2015). Effect of CRM team leader training on team performance and leadership behavior in simulated cardiac arrest scenarios: A prospective, randomized, controlled study. BMC Medical Education, 15:116.
• Fernandez Castelao, E., Russo, S.G., Riethmüller, M., & Boos, M. (2013). Effects of team coordination during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Critical Care, 28 (4), 504-521.
• Riethmüller, M., Fernandez Castelao, E., Eberhardt, I., Timmermann, A. & Boos. M. (2012). Adaptive coordination development in student anaesthesia teams: a longitudinal study. Ergonomics, 55 (1), 55-68.
• Fernandez Castelao, E., Russo, S.G., Cremer, S., Strack, M., Kaminski, L., Eich, C., Timmermann, A. & Boos, M. (2011). Positive impact of crisis resource management training on no-flow time and team member verbalisations during simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A randomised controlled trial. Resuscitation, 82 (10), 1338-1343.