Area of Study

The operating room is unique within the hospital because it is considered a revenue center. Multiple inter-collaborative groups are involved in the process of providing services to patients. These include the preoperative nurse's group, surgeon, operating room technician, physicians assistant, anesthesia, post-anesthesia care nursing, and medical and intensive care unit. Each group plays a role in the patient's care and depends on each individual to effectively perform their areas of service. Because of the multiple individuals and groups involved, each must understand the roles and services each provides. As a manager in this area, it is critical to establish open communication and have the ability to deal with multiple relationships within this service line to produce positive patient outcomes and produce cost-effective revenue. Each aspect of patient care reflects the outcome of the patient.

Polarity

The wicked problem identified is how to build relationships and communication within the work environment, specifically the best communication that results in the best care for the patient. The steps in the polarity process (seeing, mapping, assessing, learning, and leveraging), must be utilized to address this problem. Because each group of individuals works independently of the other, it is often complicated to understand the concerns, rules, and policies they work with. Through communication, one can gain insight into the priorities of each group. Each group requires communication to meet the patient's needs during every phase of care. Yet, those involved do not fully understand the values, ideas, policies, and relationships governing that care, and the values and beliefs of each member.

Individual beliefs, age, knowledge level, and experience create this "wicked problem". There are multiple correct answers to this issue, yet finding a solution involves continuously assessing the individuals involved. Tensions in polarity in surgical patients occur daily and can be addressed by innovative and individualized solutions (Roussel et al., 2018

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