The effect of team leader stress on teams practicing cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a simulation room : an exploratory study into the effect of team leader stress on team leader behaviour, closed-loop communication, and team performance of a simulated medical emergency team

In previous research, both leader behaviour and stress were found to be important antecedents of teams who perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but it has not been studied how these concepts are related and what micro-leader behaviours positively impact team performance in a simulated context. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out if and how the concepts of team leader stress, team leader behaviour, closed-loop communication, and team performance were related. To find out, 22 teams of Technical Medicine student participated in an exploratory research, with psychological and physiological stress measurement, coded video observation, and team performance measurement. On basis of correlational analysis and t-tests insight could be obtained in which leader behaviours and stress levels were found in the high and lower performing teams. The t-tests did not result in significant differences between high and low performing teams regarding stress level, behaviour and closed-loop communication. However, correlation testing showed a moderate positive relation between physiological stress and closed-loop communication, and a moderate negative relation was observed between psychological stress and team performance. Additional exploratory analysis showed a strong correlation between team leader behaviour (focused on task distribution and information gathering) and closed-loop communication. Also, the duration of the CPR-session was negatively related to team performance and positively related to self-reported stress. The paper finalizes with a conclusion, practical implications, and with suggestions for future research.