It would be hard to imagine a
more crucial setting for effective interdisciplinary clinical interactions than the cardiac surgery operating theater. Stevens and colleagues published
this 2012 pilot study on interprofessional education to “sharpen
performance of experienced cardiac surgical teams in acute crisis management.”
The educational methods support existing effectiveness research for
non-didactic education, incorporating both interactive
workshops for an entire care unit and computer-based, crisis-case simulations (whose “high-realism” scenarios improved
over time). Researchers found that 82% of the 79 participants recommended
repetition of case simulations every 6 – 12 months. Workshop participants identified
priorities in “encouraging speaking up about critical information and
interprofessional information sharing,” particularly early communication of the
surgical plan.
The mixed-methods outcomes assessment methodology is also noteworthy
because of its appropriateness to this study
of human communications and behaviors during a patient crisis: the structured interviews with study
participants added context and insights to the quantitative data that could be
gathered from periodic surveys. The surveys that were administered before, just
after, and 6 months after the educational activities noted that the “concept of
working as a team improved between surveys,” as well as “trends for improvement
in gaining common understanding of the plan before a procedure and appropriate
resolution of disagreements.” The qualitative
arm of the study found that interviewees valued the initiative’s “positive
effect on their personal behaviors and patient care, including speaking up more
readily and communicating more clearly.”
In the continuing medical
education field, we often see the Canadians leading educational research,
standards, and innovative methods. In fact, looking only at the U. S. National Library
of Medicine’s assignment of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms) to this
indexed article shows the relevance of
this study for medical education methods for promoting competence in decision-making,
performance-in-practice change, and quality improvement (see “major” MeSH terms
listed below, and others on the PubMed page). One hopes
to see a follow-up on this pilot study at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire
de Montréal (Quebec, Canada).
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