Abstract

Abstract

Background: Medical errors are a leading cause of death, and often, these deaths occur not because of technical errors or lacking medical knowledge, but rather, due to communication breakdowns between healthcare professionals. Crisis resource management (CRM) programs have been developed to explicitly train leadership, communication and resource utilization skills to reduce errors. However, only a small number of educational programs for CRM have included practicing health professionals and have mobilized in-situ simulations with a focus on interprofessional training.

Research Question: We developed a novel, in-situ, interprofessional and interdisciplinary CRM training program for operating room staff. By evaluating this program, we assessed staff’s perceptions about this type of training, distinguished differences between staff of diverse training backgrounds and identified issues at the individual, team and system levels.

Methods: Participants of varying levels of accumulated work and simulation experience took part in interprofessional CRM sessions. These sessions consisted of simulated acute crisis scenarios, followed by moderated debriefings. Each participant completed surveys comprised of 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions, prior to and after finishing the session.

Results: 19 simulation and debriefing sessions were completed, with a total of 127 health professionals participating. More than 95% of the participants found the course to be of good quality, relevant to practice and reported improved knowledge of both teamwork and CRM skills. Physicians reported less apprehension about the interprofessional nature of the course when compared to their colleagues in the other health professions, both before and after the course. Past simulation experience determined how receptive participants were to feedback during these sessions, regardless of work experience or profession. System-level, site-specific issues were identified.

Conclusion: This in-situ, interprofessional simulation training program for practicing health professionals was well-received by the participants and enhanced non-technical skills. Latent, site-specific deficiencies that were identified by the program led to solutions that later became implemented. Our program illustrated the effectiveness of this type of team training program, but also underlined the need for further development of educational programs to address the specific needs of the participating health professions.