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Published on: January 15, 2017
Teaching teamwork during the Neonatal Resuscitation Program: a randomized trial
E J Thomas1, B Taggart, S Crandell
1The University of Texas Center of Excellence for Patient Safety Research and Practice, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Eric.Thomas@uth.tmc.edu
Summary
Adding a teamwork curriculum to the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) significantly improved team behaviors during simulated resuscitations. This enhanced training equips interns with crucial skills for better neonatal care.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Healthcare Simulation
- Teamwork in Medicine
Background:
- The Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) is a standard training course for healthcare professionals.
- Effective teamwork is critical during neonatal resuscitation to improve patient outcomes.
- Existing NRP training may not adequately address team dynamics and human error.
Purpose of the Study:
- To integrate a team training and human error curriculum into the standard NRP.
- To evaluate the impact of this enhanced curriculum on teamwork behaviors during simulated neonatal resuscitations.
- To test the hypothesis that teams receiving the new course would demonstrate superior teamwork compared to the standard NRP.
Main Methods:
- Interns were randomly assigned to either the standard NRP or NRP with an added team training curriculum.
- Participants underwent simulated neonatal resuscitations at the conclusion of the training.
- Observers, blinded to group allocation, assessed predefined teamwork behaviors including information sharing, inquiry, assertion, evaluation of plans, workload management, and vigilance.
Main Results:
- Teams in the NRP with team training group showed significantly higher frequencies of information sharing, inquiry, and assertion compared to the control group.
- Nearly all teams in the enhanced training group demonstrated vigilance (100%) and effective workload management (88%) throughout the simulation.
- The overall frequency of any team behavior was substantially greater in the enhanced training group (3.34 episodes/min) versus the standard group (1.03 episodes/min).
Conclusions:
- The addition of a teamwork and human error curriculum to the NRP significantly enhances team behaviors in interns during simulated neonatal resuscitations.
- This improved teamwork is likely to contribute to better clinical performance and patient safety.
- The findings support the incorporation of comprehensive team training into neonatal resuscitation education.
