 The School of Public Health is partnering with Twin Cities
hospitals on a first-of-its-kind simulation training to
improve patient safety. While past efforts have focused on
the technical skills of doctors, nurses, and technicians, this
new training aims to improve critical elements of safety
that are much more difficult to measure: communication
and group dynamics.
"Experts are finding that threats to patient safety are not
because hospital staff lack technical skills or a commitment
to safety," says SPH associate professor William Riley.
"Rather, most often, the cause is a breakdown in communication
among hospital staff."
Riley is working with Fairview Health Services to launch
"In Situ" simulation training. Unlike most hospital safety
training that occurs in classrooms or simulation laboratories,
In Situ training happens in real-world ERs and ORs.
The
simulations are fast-paced and involve emergency "stressors"--
something that suddenly goes wrong with a patient or procedure. High-tech audio and video equipment catch the
action so medical teams can review their performance in a
post-simulation debriefing.
Riley is partnering with faculty from the University,
including Helen Hansen, School of Nursing, Karyn Baum,
Medical School, and leaders from Fairview. That interdisciplinary
team, in turn, is collaborating with FAA pilots to
develop the training. Like in the airline industry, the medical
trainers track the "near-misses" of each simulation to, as
Riley says, "prospectively look at potential errors."
With 14 simulations behind them and 30 scheduled for
the coming year, Riley says the impact on the hospital staff
has been tremendous.
"When the teams see the playback
of their simulation on screen, they realize immediately
where communication can be improved, processes are failed,
and mistakes are made," he says. "In 25 years of training,
this is the most powerful teaching method I've ever seen."
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