A Communications Bundle to Improve Satisfaction for Critically Ill Patients and Their Families: A Prospective, Cohort Pilot Study.

Context: Communication skills training with simulated patients is used by many academic centers, but how to translate skills learned in simulated settings to improve communication in real encounters has not been described.

Objectives: We developed a communications bundle to facilitate skill transfer from simulation to real encounters and improve patient and/or family satisfaction with physician communication. We tested the feasibility of its use in our hospital's medical intensive care unit (MICU).