Anesthesia Doesn’t Happen Alone: The Value of a Team
Anesthesia Doesn’t Happen Alone: The Value of a Team
By Andrew Lau, MD, Chief of Anesthesia and Chairman of Anesthesiology
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
A lot has been written about anesthesia care team models and the composition of the clinicians who staff them. But when I think about anesthesia teams, I focus less on the team members and more on what the team is trying to accomplish. I define a team as more than one person working together toward a common goal. In clinical settings, that goal is providing our patients with the best service and the safest care.
In my experience, anesthesia never happens alone—it always takes teamwork within and beyond the anesthesia department. When patients choose to undergo surgery or a procedure, anesthesia is not their endgame. But anesthesia is a critical part of the clinical team that will work toward the desired outcome.
As anesthesia clinicians, we collaborate with our department colleagues to develop and deliver a treatment strategy. We support the surgeons and nurses and the entire perioperative team as we care for patients who may come to us scared, vulnerable, or simply hungry from presurgical fasting. In any case, our common goal is—or should be—to give all our patients exceptional experiences.
That may sound obvious, but the reality is that good teamwork takes effort and grows day by day. Successful teams work in cultures that nurture collaboration, where the whole clinical team communicates intentionally and well to take care of patients and each other. Effective teams share a sense of purpose to always do the right thing for patients.
Great teamwork in the anesthesia environment produces optimal outcomes for a department’s individual clinicians, for the hospital or ASC, and most importantly, for the patients.
Four key ways a team approach adds value
1. Promotes patient safety
Clinicians often work in stressful, high-risk settings. Particularly in complex cases, it is important to have like-minded, well-trained individuals working together to lean on each other, fill any knowledge gaps, and ensure the best outcome. A supportive team is a positive attribute for any operating room (OR).
2. Drives a collaborative culture
The more comfortable the clinicians feel working together, the more they will work toward achieving common goals. In a supportive clinical environment, clinicians are not afraid to share their experiences and learn new techniques from each other. For example, when one clinician teaches departmental peers a regional block technique that is new to the team, everyone wins—the clinicians learn a valuable skill and are motivated to grow, patients are better served, and hospitals benefit from higher satisfaction.
3. Boosts OR efficiency
Having a team approach in the OR environment inspires clinicians to strive toward the same goal. When people feel that they are working as a team, they tend to be more productive and more efficient, resulting in better outcomes and faster room turnovers. This, in turn, increases surgeon and patient satisfaction and optimizes valuable hospital space, which boosts the bottom line for administrators.
4. Makes clinicians and patients happier
In a team culture, everyone helps each other. You have each other’s back. Friendships form. People come to work with a positive attitude because they are happy to be there. Positive attitudes really shine in the way we interact with our colleagues and patients—and patients always notice. After waiting for you, sometimes for hours, they are attuned to your mood. When you are friendly and positive, the patient feels more confident in the care you will provide.
The clinical leaders of anesthesia management groups are essential members of any hospital or ASC clinical team because they create the culture at each of their clients’ sites. A service organization establishes a mission and should give its clinicians the tools and support to fulfill that mission every day.
As a clinician-led organization, NAPA’s culture emphasizes collaboration and support. We foster thriving work environments that drive success for all members of the team. I choose to work in a hospital that embraces the care team model because I enjoy working with anesthesia colleagues who share my passion for outstanding patient care.
I know we are one team bound by one common goal: to always put patients first.
Andrew Lau, MD, serves as Chairman of Anesthesiology at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he is Chief of Anesthesia for North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA).
He completed his medical degree at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University and his residency at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He is board certified in anesthesiology.