Characterization of non-technical social skills in pediatric cardiac surgery

There&s;s a lack of basic data on cognitive and social skills in health care teams and very little is known about prevailing attitudes to teamwork and safety in the operating theatre. Professionals are highly trained in technical skills but they often lack knowledge of non-technical skills that complement technical skills, but continue absent of their training. Social non-technical skills like communication, teamwork and leadership are essential for the delivery of high quality and safe patient care. For instance, communication failures are the leading cause of inadvertent patient harm. Safety management in complex systems like health care should focus on resilience, endowing organizations with flexibility to face disruptions and production and economic pressures. And non-technical skills due to human abilities of adaptation can play a decisive role providing increased flexibility to the system.