Silence Operating Room

Silence, Power and Communication in the Operating Room

In the operating room, effective communication is essential for a procedure to go smoothly because we are dealing with peoples’ lives. Sometime, silence and quietness are useful in the operating room because they indicate an experienced, comfortable, working OR team. To investigate why silence occurs in the operating room, we must understand what roles does silence and speech plays in the operating room. There are three forms of silence that we must discuss, “(1) absence of communication, made evident by prior actions or communication; (2) lack of response to a direct address by another, or responding with silence to another’s question or directive; and (3) aspects of delivery that blur the lines between speech and silence, such as …show more content…
For example, before a procedure begin, a surgical technologist is asking for a “Time-Out” with her quiet voice, and no one pays attention, the nurse was too busy talking to the surgeon and the anesthesia provider. Personally, I tend to speak with an uncertain or quiet voice and most of the time, people do not hear me well. They would ask me to repeat myself. I speak quietly because I want to be professional not rude. I want to show respect to the people I communicate with. For this, useful step, I learned to be assertive and loud in the operating room if I want to get people’s attention. Effective communication plays a crucial role in the operating room because we want to make sure the operating procedure go smoothly. To become an effective communicator in the operating room, we must first understand silence and speech. There are three forms of silence: lack of communication; not answering to a request or a question; and speaking quietly, fearfully or uncertainly. To become an effective communicator, it is essential to overcome these barriers and address them