Encouraging Our Teams to Speak Up

Captain of a Ship

Dr. Jerone Kennedy was asked what it is like as a surgeon to have someone speak up during a surgery. This was his response:

Well, appreciation for someone speaking up. I’d rather hear that now than hear later on that we did the wrong side. So there’s no negative emotion associated with it. Open communication goes both ways in the OR — from me to them and them and to me. We’re all part of the same team. 

Open communication goes both ways in the OR — from me to them and them and to me.

Jerone Kennedy, MD

I think one of the analogies I think of is of a captain of a dark ship at night in the middle of the North Atlantic, and one of your sailors says, “Captain, I think that we’re about to run into an iceberg.” I think the captain’s going to be relieved he didn’t run into the iceberg. 

So, there’s no downside to it. If someone says something to me in the OR about patient safety, are we doing the right side, the right patient—any of those things—it’s always a good thing because the consequences of making a mistake are so profound and the emotions associated with that are so devastating that I welcome avoiding that situation anytime.