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Workplace Culture of an Operating Room: An Insider’s Perspective
Abstract   Peer reviewed

Workplace Culture of an Operating Room: An Insider’s Perspective

B M Gillespie, Marianne Wallis and W Chaboyer
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, Vol.5(3), p.27
Advances in Qualitative Methods International Conference, 7th (Surfers Paradise, Australia, 13-Jul-2006–16-Jul-2006)
2006
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500303
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https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500303View
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Abstract

Nursing Social Work
Background: The capacity of some people to manage workplace stress effectively has been linked to positive outcomes such as work satisfaction and longevity of employment. In nursing, where attrition rates are on the rise, particularly in some of the high stress specialties such as the operating room, it becomes important to recognise aspects of workplace culture that influence a person's ability to adapt to the demands of stressful and volatile environments. Objective: This ethnographic study explored the social microcosm of an operating room to describe elements of workplace culture that influenced the integration and socialisation of nurses into this environment, and to explore which elements influenced the development of resilience in operating room nurses. Methods: During a six week field work engagement, data were gathered through field notes, interviews with key informants and a journal to diarise internalised assumptions associated with the culture and context. The dialectic tensions between the "emic" and the "etic" perspectives which underpinned the participant-observer role are highlighted throughout the presentation. Data were analysed thematically. Results: Three themes related to primacy of knowledge and competence, social order and situational control were important cultural indicators in this highly specialised milieu. The level to which members were able to assimilate and meet role expectations depended on the amount of knowledge and experience they possessed. Conclusions: The culture of the operating room is anchored to the core features of specialist knowledge and experience. ollaboration, peer support and social order are exercised through various forms of team communications. The extent to which members are permitted to participate depends on their ability to competently perform under pressure. Culturally imposed peripheral participation maintains the social order of the operating room and may adversely impact on the ways in which members integrate and adapt in this technocratic environment.

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