Materials & methods
We undertook an anonymous, voluntary survey at one institution, inviting
all nursing staff in ENT and ophthalmology theatres, plus nursing, admin
and medical staff in ENT admin and clinics (estimated 128 staff). These
areas were chosen to cover a range of staff groups and settings.
Participants completed the following questionnaires:
- Debrief experience. Debrief was defined as “Team discussion about the
day’s events, for example at the end of a theatre list, at the end of
a project, or at end of another session / event.” We asked if staff
had debrief, what style (see below), and “how effective, useful and
engaging” each debrief style was for them.
- Culture of Care Barometer (CCB) assesses work culture within NHS
including organisational values, team support, relationships with
colleagues and job constraints(6,7). It consists of 30 questions, with
participants asked to indicate how much they agree with statements on
a scale of 1 to 5.
- Work promoter scores. Participants were asked how likely they would
recommend their team and hospital as a place to work (10 point Likert
scale, categorising 9-10 as promoters, 7-8 as passives, and 0-6 as
detractors).
Debrief types were described as follows
- quick comments (e.g. yes or no question)
- informal discussion (i.e. no specific structure)
- structured discussion (based on a framework or a checklist)
- coaching style (e.g. with cards or team games)
- team meetings led by a team leader / manager
Questionnaires were piloted in advance.
Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics 24 software.
In the case of CCB and promoter scores the outcomes could not be
attributed to one specific debrief type because the staff were exposed
to many different types.
This study follows Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting
Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) as the reporting guideline.