Implementing an Interprofessional Simulation Program for Paediatric Patient Safety.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Simulation

Background:

• Simulation-based medical education is crucial for improving patient safety culture and outcomes.
• Preventable clinical errors are often unit-specific, necessitating tailored interventions.
• This study reports the design, implementation, and evaluation of an interprofessional in situ simulation program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and implement an interprofessional in situ simulation program.
• To align simulation content with unit-specific errors to enhance patient safety.
• To evaluate the program's impact on patient safety perceptions and error rates.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, survey-based study was conducted at a pediatric tertiary care center.
• Incident reports were reviewed to identify frequent and severe errors (e.g., IV solutions, enteral feeding, medication transcription, IV infiltration).
• Eight in situ simulations were conducted over 8 months, with participants including residents, nurses, pharmacists, and physicians.

Main Results:

• Review of 329 incident reports identified four key error types.
• 86% participation rate and 65% survey response rate were achieved.
• 86% of participants reported positively on the program's potential to improve patient safety, with a trend toward reduced targeted medical errors.

Conclusions:

• An in situ simulation program tailored to unit-specific needs can be effectively implemented.
• This approach offers valuable insights for healthcare centers aiming to enhance patient safety.
• Addressing implementation challenges is key to successful simulation program development.