A Multi-center Simulation-Based Emergency Medicine Resident Boot Camp Can Improve Teamwork, Communication, and Clinical Skills.

Boot camps are designed to deliver highly specific education in a short amount of time. Educational boot camps are known to improve confidence in clinical capabilities and medical knowledge and promote teamwork skills. We created an emergency medicine (EM) boot camp with targeted learning objectives based on expected mastery of post-graduate year (PGY)-level educational objectives based on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) EM milestones.

Why Simulation Matters: A Systematic Review on Medical Errors Occurring During Simulated Health Care.

Background: Over the past decade, the implementation of simulation education in health care has increased exponentially. Simulation-based education allows learners to practice patient care in a controlled, psychologically safe environment without the risk of harming a patient. Facilitators may identify medical errors during instruction, aiding in developing targeted education programs leading to improved patient safety.

Setting an Agenda: Results of a Consensus Process on Research Directions in Distance Simulation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced rapid implementation and refinement of distance simulation methodologies in which participants and/or facilitators are not physically colocated. A review of the distance simulation literature showed that heterogeneity in many areas (including nomenclature, methodology, and outcomes) limited the ability to identify best practice. In April 2020, the Healthcare Distance Simulation Collaboration was formed with the goal of addressing these issues.

Delivering bad or difficult news. An innovative simulation-based education approach to prepare interdisciplinary fellowships.

Background: There is limited data on the effectiveness of training interventions to improve the delivery of bad news.

Methods: This preliminary research included pre-post assessments and an open-ended survey to evaluate the effectiveness and perceived value of training on delivering bad news for 26 first- and second-year fellows from five adult and pediatric fellowship programs.

Results: There was a significant increase in faculty assessment scores (34.

Getting Better Together: The Two-Team Training Approach in Simulation-Based Education.

Most clinical cases involve more than one nurse and one profession in the patient care plan, and so it can be stated that health care is very often a team event. In this article, I describe a two-team training approach that is very effective for maximizing learning and preparing high-performing teams in several team-based courses. This strategy exemplifies the power of vicarious learning and learning through imitation.

Simulation-Based Discharge Education Program for Caregivers of Children With Tracheostomies.

Objectives: To design, implement, and evaluate a simulation-based education (SBE) program for caregivers of children with tracheostomy.

Methods: Self-reported comfort and confidence in knowledge as well as tracheostomy care skills were assessed before and after a single SBE session for 24 consecutively enrolled caregivers of children with tracheostomies aged <21 years who were hospitalized at an academic medical center from August 2018 to September 2019 by using a survey and checklist, respectively. Mean individual and aggregated scores were compared by using a paired samples t-test, and association between instruments was determined with Spearman correlation.

A prospective randomised simulation trial comparing our novel AIR-BOX to standard airway equipment storage modalities.

Background: There is little evidence guiding equipment handling during emergency endotracheal intubations (EEI). Available evidence and current practice are either outdated, anecdotal or focused on difficult-not emergency-intubation. In this study, we describe and evaluate our equipment handling unit: the AIR-BOX.

Incorporating the Reflective Pause in Simulation: A Practical Guide.

Many articles exist today espousing the value of debriefing following a simulation or gaming event. Although debriefing, a reflection-on-action strategy, is important, a useful reflection strategy may accentuate the reflection-in-action process that is arguably even more important than the debriefing. In this article, we explain a concept called the reflective pause and how it can be used during simulation cases to lead the learners to the objectives and enhance the learning process.

Debunking the myth that the majority of medical errors are attributed to communication.

Context: Many articles, book chapters and presentations begin with a declaration that the majority of medical errors are attributed to communication. However, this statement may not be supported by the research reported in the literature.

Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review is to identify where errors are reported in the research literature.

Measuring the effect of a competency-based education conference for PAs and NPs.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a competency-based continuing medical education (CME) conference model for physician assistants (PAs) and NPs.

Methods: This mixed-method research included a pretest/post-test assessment of knowledge and procedural assessment for six clinical skills, along with an open-ended survey to assess the value of an educational conference for PAs and NPs (N = 48) in an urban academic healthcare facility.

Results: Significant increases in knowledge scores and all six clinical skill procedures were noted from pre- to post-test.

A TeamSTEPPS® implementation plan for recently assigned interns and nurses.

Interns and newly assigned nurses are expected to assimilate rapidly and begin functioning as members of interprofessional teams. This mixed-method pilot research assessed the impact of a Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS®) implementation plan in an urban academic teaching hospital that included a cohort of newly assigned pediatric interns and nurses (N = 23). We collected pre- and post-intervention course knowledge and team performance data from two teams in two separate simulation cases.

Gibson's theory of affordances and situational awareness occurring in urban departments of pediatrics, medicine, and emergency medicine.

Background: The Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) program provides a situation-monitoring tool that allows health-care professionals to perform an environmental scan. This process includes scanning the status of the patient, team members, and the environment, to ensure that patient care is progressing toward the goal. It is assumed that health-care professionals will act in a certain way by providing feedback and support based on the scan.

A Saturated Approach to the Four-Phase, Brain-Based Simulation Framework for TeamSTEPPS® in a Pediatric Medicine Unit.

Introduction: Although many organizations have reported successful outcomes as a result of Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS), implementation can be challenging, with its share of administrative obstacles and lack of research that shows observable change in practice.

Methods: This quantitative, pretest/posttest design pilot research used a combination of classroom simulation-based instruction and in situ simulation in a Pediatrics department in an urban academic center. All personnel with direct patient care responsibilities (n = 547) were trained in TeamSTEPPS in an 8-week period.

Minimizing complications associated with percutaneous central venous catheter placement in children: recent advances.

Objectives: To summarize existing knowledge regarding the prevalence of complications associated with temporary percutaneous central venous catheters placed in critically ill children, and to review evolving strategies to minimize the prevalence of these complications.

Data Sources: Literature review was performed: PubMed and EBSCOhost were searched using the terms central venous catheter, children, ultrasound, infection, thrombosis, and thromboembolism in various combinations. Citations of interest from identified articles were also reviewed.