Educating for teamwork--nursing students' coordination in simulated cardiac arrest situations

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Team Coordination
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Effective resuscitation team coordination is crucial for patient safety.
• While simulation is used for training, the interplay of verbal and non-verbal communication in resuscitation has been under-explored.
• This study addresses the need to understand multifaceted communication in simulated resuscitation scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and describe the communicative modes used by students for team coordination in a simulation-based resuscitation training environment.
• To analyze the significance of verbal and non-verbal communication in moment-to-moment team coordination during simulated cardiac arrests.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of video recordings from 28 simulated cardiac arrest scenarios involving 81 nursing students.
• Content analysis to code and quantify communicative actions.
• Interaction analysis to assess the role of verbal and non-verbal communication in coordination.

Main Results:

• Identified three coordination phases: Stating unconsciousness, Preparing for resuscitation, and Initiating resuscitation.
• Team coordination involved a broad range of verbal and non-verbal communication modes, including positioning, pointing, and verbal directives.
• Mutual understanding for algorithmic progression was achieved through a complex interplay of these communication modes.

Conclusions:

• Simulation-based environments are valuable for nursing education in training resuscitation team coordination.
• These environments provide opportunities to practice the complex interplay of verbal and non-verbal communication essential for effective resuscitation.
• Simulation training facilitates the development of coordination skills that are difficult to practice in other settings.