Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety / Joint Commission Resources
-
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Aug 2009
Implementing standardized operating room briefings and debriefings at a large regional medical center.
Effective communication and teamwork are critical in many health care settings, particularly the operating room (OR). Several studies have implicated failures of communication and teamwork as the root cause in a high proportion of sentinel events in the OR. ⋯ Implementation of a standardized briefing and debriefing tool in a large regional medical center was a, practical and feasible strategy to improve perceptions of interdisciplinary communication and teamwork in the OR.
-
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Aug 2009
What are the critical success factors for team training in health care?
Ineffective communication among medical teams is a leading cause of preventable patient harm throughout the health care system. A growing body of literature indicates that medical teamwork improves the quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness of health care delivery, and expectations for teamwork in health care have increased. Yet few health care professions' curricula include teamwork training, and few medical practices integrate teamwork principles. Because of this knowledge gap, growing numbers of health care systems are requiring staff to participate in formal teamwork training programs. Seven evidence-based, practical, systematic success factors for preparing, implementing, and sustaining a team training and performance improvement initiative were identified. Each success factor is accompanied by tips for deployment and a real-world example of application. ⋯ Although decades of research in other high-risk organizations have clearly demonstrated that properly designed team training programs can improve team performance, success is highly dependent on organizational factors such as leadership support, learning climate, and commitment to data-driven change. Before engaging in a teamwork training initiative, health care organizations should have a clear understanding of these factors and the strategies for their establishment.