Interprofessional resuscitation rounds: a teamwork approach to ACLS education

We developed and implemented a series of interprofessional resuscitation rounds targeting fourth year nursing and medical students, and junior residents from a variety of specialty programs.

Each two hour session was conducted in our patient simulation lab, and was held weekly during the academic year. Students were given specific instruction on the roles and responsibilities of resuscitation team members, and then teams of five worked through pre-defined Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) scenarios on a high fidelity patient simulator. At the end of each session students completed an anonymous evaluation of the program via a standardized questionnaire using Likert rating scales.

A total of 222 evaluations (101 nursing students, 42 medical students, and 79 junior residents) were submitted from October 2005 to April 2006. Mean scores reflected a strong consensus that these rounds were valuable for their training, provided a vehicle for understanding team roles in resuscitation, and that these rounds should be mandatory for all medical and nursing trainees. Participants also expressed a desire for additional interprofessional training.

Despite challenges inherent in teaching a diverse group of learners, these interprofessional resuscitation rounds were rated highly by nursing and medical trainees as valuable learning experiences.