Barriers to collaborative anesthetic care between anesthesiologists and nurses on the labour and delivery unit: a study using a modified Delphi technique

Introduction The practice of obstetrical anesthesia relies on collaborative effort between anesthesiologists and nurses, but teamwork remains a challenge. We sought to identify a consensus on the perceived barriers to collaborative care between anesthesiologists and perinatal nurses in a Canadian tertiary labour and delivery (L&D) unit. Methods A cross-sectional consensus-building study was conducted using a modified Delphi technique. We aimed to reach consensus on the barriers to collaborative care as well as to identify the reasons behind the issues and possible interventions. This technique involved conducting four parallel sequential rounds of questionnaires: Round 1 - posing open-ended questions to nurses and anesthesiologists; Round 2 - establishing an initial within-group consensus; Round 3 - conducting a cross-over round to determine the interprofessional consensus and the remaining anesthesia and nursing consensuses; Round 4 - ranking to identify the top three barriers identified by the three consensuses. Results Twenty-one anesthesiologists and 15 nurses were recruited. Themes of barriers to collaboration included issues on professionalism, availability, dissonance, team coordination, communication, organizational structure, educational gaps, and role clarity. The top two barriers from the interprofessional consensus were communication issues. Discussion Anesthesiologists and nurses at our tertiary L&D unit identified communication as a major barrier to collaborative care. This study also shows the feasibly of using the modified Delphi technique in L&D units seeking to improve collaborative care.