Preparing Anesthesiology Residents for Operating Room Communication Challenges: A New Approach for Conflict Resolution Training.

Background: The hierarchical culture in high-stake areas such as operating rooms (ORs) may create volatile communication challenges. This unfunded exploratory study sought to establish whether a conflict resolution course was effective in preparing anesthesiology residents to handle and deescalate disagreements that may arise in the clinical environment, especially when challenging a surgeon.

Methods: Thirty-seven anesthesiology residents were assessed for ability to deescalate conflict.

What participants learn, with, from and about each other during inter-professional education encounters: A qualitative analysis.

Background: Safe healthcare requires teamwork and collaboration. To meet the needs of healthcare organizations and professionals, inter-professional education, is no longer an optional educational trend but rather a mandate of accrediting health education agencies.

Objective: In an effort to better understand the impact of inter- professional educational activities, this study sought to explore via qualitative methods what nursing and medical students learn with, from, and about one another during a week - long simulation-based inter-profession education course.

Significance of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations to Plastic Surgery Residency Training.

Introduction: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) have proven to be a powerful tool. They possess more than a 30-year track record in assessing the competency of medical students, residents, and fellows. Objective structured clinical examinations have been used successfully in a variety of medical specialties, including surgery.

An assessment of CPR skills using simulation: Are first responders prepared to save lives?

The American Heart Association's (AHA) recommendation for biyearly recertification and annual mandatory CPR training may be suboptimal for first responders (nurses and technicians) working in outpatient clinics (American Heart Association, 2013). To determine the efficacy of the AHA guidelines, 40 simulated sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) encounters were conducted followed by debriefing and a subsequent SCA to determine a basic level of CPR proficiency. First responders' CPR skills were evaluated using a 19-item assessment form to quantify the event.

Interprofessional Simulation Olympics as a platform to assess team work knowledge acquisition.

Introduction: Several years ago an on-stage competition called SimWars was introduced to the simulation community. This concept was adopted into a patient safety course as a way to further engage students and named Sim Olympics. We sought to evaluate it as a platform for assessment of learning in students who participated as audience members.

Using simulation technology to identify gaps between education and practice among new graduate nurses.

Applied knowledge was observed among nurse groups from a medical-surgical residency program to measure clinical performance during simulation training. Twenty groups of new graduate nurses were observed during five simulated clinical scenarios, and their performances were scored on a 24-item checklist. Nurse groups showed significant improvement (p < 0.

Twitter as a tool to enhance student engagement during an interprofessional patient safety course.

Twitter and other social media forums are gaining popularity in both the academic and conference arenas as tools to increase participant engagement, attention and interaction. While Twitter has been used successfully to engage college students, it has not been explored for use in an interprofessional curriculum. We sought to explore it as a method to foster student engagement.

Establishing a convention for acting in healthcare simulation: merging art and science.

Among the most powerful tools available to simulation instructors is a confederate. Although technical and logical realism is dictated by the simulation platform and setting, the quality of role playing by confederates strongly determines psychological or emotional fidelity of simulation. The highest level of realism, however, is achieved when the confederates are properly trained.

A comparison of different types of hazardous material respirators available to anesthesiologists.

Objective: Despite anesthesiology personnel involvement in initial treatment of patients exposed to potentially lethal agents, less than 40 percent of US anesthesiology training programs conduct training to manage these patients.(1) No previous studies have evaluated performance of anesthesiologists wearing protective gear. The authors compared the performance of anesthesiologists intubating a high-fidelity mannequin while wearing either a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) or a negative pressure respirator (NPR).

Man versus machine: the preferred modality.

Background: When learning objectives do not specifically dictate the use of one simulation modality over another, we sought to answer the question of which modality is preferred. We also assessed the impact of debriefing, and the frequency of participants asserting their leadership, as well as self-reported comfort and competence, and the ability to generate differential diagnoses when either a standardised patient (SP) or high-technology simulator (HTS) was used.

Methods: One hundred and forty medical students participated in a simulation-based activity focusing on teamwork, task delegation, role clarity and effective communication.

A patient safety course for preclinical medical students.

Background: We developed a course to introduce incoming third-year medical students to the subject of patient safety, to focus their attention on teamwork and communication, and to create an awareness of patient-safe practices that will positively impact their performance as clinicians.

Methods: The course, held prior to the start of clinical rotations, consisted of lectures, web-based didactic materials, small group activities and simulation exercises, with an emphasis on experiential learning. First, students inspected a 'room of horrors', which is a simulated clinical environment riddled with errors.

Radiostethoscopes: an innovative solution for auscultation while wearing protective gear.

Objective: To demonstrate a radiostethoscope that could be modified and successfully used while wearing protective gear to solve the problem of auscultation in a hazardous material or infectious disease setting.

Design: This study was a randomized, prospective, and blinded investigation.

Setting: The study was conducted at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital Center for Patient Safety.

A novel educational programme to improve knowledge regarding health care-associated infection and hand hygiene.

Lack of hand hygiene by health-care workers is the most significant cause of health care-associated infection. This programme was designed to make health-care workers want to wash their hands, to change their knowledge regarding hand hygiene and health care-associated infection, and influence practice. Improvement between pre- and post-test scores was statistically significant.

Factors impacting hand hygiene compliance among new interns: findings from a mandatory patient safety course.

Background: Residency is a critical transition during which individuals acquire lifelong behaviors important for professionalism and optimal patient care. One behavior is proper hand hygiene (HH), yet poor compliance with accepted HH practices remains a critical issue in many settings. This study explored the factors affecting hand hygiene compliance (HHC) in a diverse group of interns at the beginning of graduate training.

Creating a common patient safety denominator: the interns' course.

Aim: After finishing medical school, interns are in many ways unprepared for handling patient care challenges independently. Recognizing that interns may benefit from a patient safety orientation, we developed an innovative curriculum to impart competencies related to their role in preventing medical errors. In the course, which runs during the first week of the intern year, we specifically address 1) calling for help; 2) teamwork and communication; 3) hand hygiene compliance; and, 4) preventing medication and other system errors.