Goals of the Education Program:

 

• Provide healthcare team members with consistent education on the concepts of teamwork, psychological safety, effective communication and their impact on patient safety
• Integrate safe communication strategies into the organizational culture
• Sustain a culture of teamwork, psychological safety and effective communication
• Maintain a high level of consistency & quality in all educational efforts
• Develop a cadre of educational tools that allow for flexibility in use and application into diverse practice settings

The challenge to capture a broad audience of healthcare team members mandated the creation of a standardized curriculum, teaching materials and methods that could be used by multiple disciplines in a variety of forums.  Healthcare team members included in this intervention were nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, occupational/physical therapists, dieticians, social workers, pharmacists, chaplains, clerical/support staff, radiology and laboratory staff.  The educational materials were provided to new employees during initial orientation, during department orientation, student rotations, and on an ongoing and refresher basis for current employees. 

 

The education was implemented in two parts; Part I:  Combined Initial Education and Part II:  Unit Level Follow-up Education. 

Part I of the education plan focuses on interdisciplinary education and provides team members with an introduction the foundational concepts of Human Factors, Effective Teamwork and Communication and their role in patient safety.  To accomplish this, over 700 providers (representing all healthcare disciplines) attended presentations by a nationally recognized patient safety expert, Dr. Michael Leonard.  Through his creative presentation, “real-life” anecdotes and evidence based approach to factors impacting healthcare workers practice; Dr. Leonard fostered a commitment from providers to work to improve the organizational culture of patient safety.  In addition to the lecture portion of the presentation, attendees participated in an interactive group activity.  Using the SBAR format, they coached each other in communicating patient needs.

Part II focused on review of Part I concepts, practice of effective communication skills, and strategies to create and sustain a culture of patient safety.  In contrast to the Part I “kick-off” education sessions, Part II was a sustained effort (months) to implement practice change.  Ongoing education & reminders were presented through formal and informal sessions on the units. 

 

Several tools were developed to educate a range of staff in various care settings.  The Team Communication and Unit Follow-up Education book is used to teach people in the “Fast Talk” format and provide the opportunity to practice using structured communication with practice scenarios.  In order to support the Fast Talks and Education book, the champion role was created.  In addition to the Team Communication and Unit Follow-up Education book and the champion role, SBAR communication forms/worksheets, concept reminder posters, additional visual reminders (phone cards, bookmarks, lanyards, t-shirts, pocket cards), a power point presentation and web-based training were used to further support our follow-up education efforts. 

 

Please visit the Teaching Resources page for a further breakdown of these resources.

Michael Leonard, MD, Physician Leader for Patient Safety, along with colleagues Doug Bonacum and Suzanne Graham at Kaiser Permanente of Colorado (Evergreen, Colorado, USA) developed the structured communication technique that has been implemented widely at several other health systems.  Dr. Leonard provides invaluable tools and information that greatly improve patient safety. 

 

 

 

Feedback from Dr. Leonard's presentations has been overwhelmingly positive, for example:

“Fan-Freaking-Tastic presentation with VERY, VERY pertinent data and info to address age-old dilemmas.  Presented in an entertaining and engaging manner.”

      ~Denver Health employee

“Outstanding speaker, on point, highly relevant, and also entertaining.”

      ~Denver Health employee

Click on the following link to go find more info about SBAR: IHI SBAR

Click on the following link to go to a vendor for "The Human Factor: Effective Teamwork and Communication"