Surgical Teamwork and the Pragmatic Ethics of the Outcome

Abstract

ABSTRACT Surgical teams engage in complex social and technical practices to maintain group cohesion and ensure that routine practices stay on track. The work of communication, coordination, and surveillance becomes part of a pragmatic ethics of teamwork through which team members show regard for others, both patients and fellow practitioners, by working agentially from within the team to represent the patient’s interests and keep the surgery moving. When breaks in routine occur, practitioners work to contain damage, restore routine, and communicate the moral stakes of deviating from the routine. This is the pragmatic ethics of the outcome.