Semi-structured interviews
For a more in-depth understanding of experiences with perioperative
briefing and debriefing and the impact on team climate, a trained and
experienced researcher (M.S.) conducted 13 semi-structured interviews
(face to face) at the workplace. The interviews lasted approximately 45
minutes and were audiotaped. We developed an interview topic guide
(Appendix 2) partly based on the results of the short standardised
evaluation questionnaire. After evaluating two interviews, the interview
topics were: 1) perceived influence of perioperative briefing and
debriefing on team climate, 2) experiences with perioperative briefing
and debriefing, 3) perceived barriers and facilitators on the
performance of perioperative briefing and debriefing and 4)
recommendations for improvement. We also collected relevant interviewee
characteristics (job function and years of experience in current job
function).
The interviews took place between June 2019 and November 2019. We used
purposive sampling to ensure a representative sample of interviewees in
terms of job function and years of experience. Variation in job function
(surgeon, surgical resident, anaesthesiologist, anaesthesiology
resident, OR assistant and anaesthetic assistant) and surgical team were
taken into account to create a diverse sample. The interviewees were
informed about the aim of the study by e-mail and provided written
informed consent at the start of the interview. In total, 17 surgical
team members were approached to participate in an interview. Three team
members did not respond in spite of a reminder e-mail and two team
members wanted to participate but were unable to find a time for the
interview. One team member who had not been approached by e-mail decided
to participate together with his colleague at the time of his
colleague’s interview. A total of 13 surgical team members were included
in the semi-structured interviews.