Teamwork safety training

Improvement then requires a simultaneous focus on processes, organization, supervision, training and teamwork, underpinned by leadership, constancy of purpose and support from senior leaders. In this chapter we will see how these ideas have been put into practice, but first we need to briefly consider the difficult topic of the evaluation of safety and quality improvement. 

The Facility Supervisor and Hot Cell Operators are qualification positions requiring successful completion of a formal training program before an individual Is allowed to operate specific HCF equipment and/or controls unsupervised. Proficiency for the qualified positions is demonstrated by minimum acceptable scores on written tests and by observation of the individual s operating skill with manipulators, production process equipment, and plant safety equipment and safety systems. Qualification also requires demonstrated adherence to conduct of operations principles, ability to follow procedures, and commitment to cultivating an environment of teamwork and continuous improvement. Staff contributions to improvement of procedures and processes are actively encouraged as a way to enhance the safety and work culture. 

Watts et al. (2010) Medical Team Training One Day Operating room Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Teamwork culture increased from 66% to 72% safety culture increased from 67% to 73%... 

Safety is created in teams. Complexity is tamed through interdisciplinary and interdepartmental communication and alignment. Yet few of our academic and training instimtions construct curricula or create experiences that prepare students to move beyond discipline-centric approaches to care. Expectations of teamwork, leadership, and know-how in creating safety and improving care are too often thrust upon professionals struggling to practice their professions in the face of complexity, fragmentation, clumsy systems, and production demands. Miscommuni-cation and lack of communication are ever-present conditions as care is provided in isolated, disciplinary silos. This, too, is the framework in which students are trained and conditioned for professional life. 

Aligning with academic and training institutions to construct curricula, and creating experiences (in teamwork, patient safety, improvement, ethics, complexity, and communication) that prepare students to move beyond discipline-... 

Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS ) is a set of tools to help train clinicians in teamwork and communication skills to reduce risks to patient safety (AHRQ Publication No. 06-0020-0). 

A Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was administered to operating theatre staff before and after a simulation- based team training program, to assess the effectiveness of the program in changing the safety and teamwork culture. At present, insufficient data are currently available to allow statistically valid conclusions to be drawn. 

Three months after the training 346 safety attitude questionnaires were administered. At the time of writing there have been 41 returns (response rate of 12 per cent). Insufficient data are eurrently available to allow statistically valid conclusions to be drawn. Interim analysis suggests no significant change in the climates of safety or teamwork. Preliminary data are displayed in Table 19.2. 

Table 19.2 Preliminary data on tbe effect of the CRM training program on teamwork and safety climates...

Initial power ealeulations suggest fliat our ehoice of a 50 per eent improvement in teamwork and safety climates from the median values would require a sample size of 150 respondents before and after the training (p = 0.05) to aeeept the null hypothesis that there is no effeet with simulation-based team training. The elinieal signifieanee of a 50 per eent improvement in these measures is unknown furthermore, as no previous studies have examined flie influenee of simulation-based training on elimate... 

Attitudes to Safety and Teamwork in the Operating Theatre, and the Effects of a Program of Simulation-Based Team Training 211... 

A safety culture is key. No matter how advanced the technological system, if humans are involved, errors are inevitable. The key to patient safety and accident prevention is managing the inevitable error by doing two things First, by training to use specific teamwork and communications behaviors, and second to implement safety tools (policy and procedures, protocols, checklists, briefings) to complement behaviors to detect and trap (small) errors before they become a chain creating a serious or even fatal accident (table 1). 

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