Examining team personality dimensions and outcomes of simulated medical procedures

Hospital environments contribute to caregiver mistakes. Factors such as multi-tasking, interruptions, and demanding workloads increase the likelihood of human error during the provision of medical care. The problem addressed in this quantitative correlational study was the increased harm to patients caused by wrong-site procedures and unintended retained foreign bodies during invasive procedures performed in the United States and the possible relationship between team personality dimensions and negative patient outcomes. Seventy-one physician residents, medical students, and nurses were randomly selected to perform simulated procedures in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Emergency Medicine and Family Practice. The independent variables in the study included dimensions from the Big Five model: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The dependent variables were dichotomous, with either an expected or unexpected outcome resulting from each medical simulation. The simulations included scenarios that required teams to find a retained foreign body, discover incorrectly marked test-results, or identify a patient via the use of universal precautions. A binary logistic model showed significant coefficient p-values and Chi-square results for the single dimension of extraversion and expected simulation outcomes in the retained foreign body simulations (chi2 (df=7) = 3.10, p = .031) and the wrong-site and retained foreign body simulations (chi2 (df=6) = 1.97, p = .046). These findings suggest that the research hypotheses of a single personality dimension in the Big Five model correlated to improved team outcomes and patient safety as found in two of the six medical simulations in this study. The use of the Big Five model in team selection may be beneficial to reducing negative patient outcomes in high-risk healthcare scenarios, especially when organ or limb laterality or the use of medical instrumentation are part of invasive medical procedures. The external validity of this study would be enhanced through further research in team personality dimensions and its effect on team performance in hospitals.