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Dexterity assessment of hospital workers: prospective comparative study

Objectives To compare the manual dexterity and composure under pressure of people in different hospital staff roles using a buzz wire game. Design Prospective, observational, comparative study (Tremor study). Setting Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK, during a three week period in 2024. Participants 254 hospital staff members comprising of 60 physicians, 64 surgeons, 69 nurses, and 61 non-clinical staff. Main outcome measures Successful completion of the buzz wire game within five minutes and occurrence of swearing and audible noises of frustration. Results Of the 254 hospital staff that participated, surgeons had significantly higher success rates in completing the buzz wire game within five minutes (84%, n=54) compared with physicians (57%, n=34), nurses (54%, n=37), and non-clinical staff (51%, n=31) (P<0.001). Time-to-event analysis showed that surgeons were quicker to successfully complete the game, independent of age and gender. Surgeons exhibited the highest rate of swearing during the game (50%, n=32), followed by nurses (30%, n=21), physicians (25%, n=60), and non-clinical staff (23%, n=14) (P=0.004). Non-clinical staff showed the highest use of frustration noises (75%), followed by nurses (68%), surgeons (58%), and physicians (52%) (P=0.03). Conclusions Surgeons showed greater dexterity, but higher levels of swearing compared with other hospital staff roles, while nurses and non-clinical staff showed the highest rates of audible noises of frustration. The study highlights the diverse skill sets across hospital staff roles. Implementation of a surgical swear jar initiative should be considered for future fundraising events. The study data are available on reasonable request.

Another study that examined six surgical subspecialities showed no substantial variations in dexterity, 2 questioning the long-held belief that some specialties develop superior fine motor skills. Conversely, surgeons might be a self-selected group for whom tasks requiring hand and eye coordination is appealing, or individuals with poor manual dexterity might not progress through surgical training. Finally, our findings are not applicable to children younger than 4 years for whom the buzz wire game’s small parts may represent a choking hazard, although these individuals are unlikely to be currently employed in secondary care.

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