Cumulative sum learning curve for cordocentesis among maternal-fetal medicine fellows in a low-cost simulation model.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the individual learning curves for cordocentesis in a low-cost simulator for maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) fellows. METHODS: This observational, descriptive, educational, and prospective study was performed from July through November 2022. After an introductory course based on a standardized technique for cordocentesis, each second-year MFM fellow who accepted to participate in the study performed this procedure using a low-cost simulation model, and experienced operators supervised the cordocenteses. Learning curves were then created using cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM). RESULTS: Seven second-year MFM fellows with no previous experience in cordocentesis accepted to participate in the study. A total of 2676 procedures were assessed. On average, residents performed 382 ± 70 procedures. The mean number of procedures to achieve proficiency was 369 ± 70, the overall success rate was 84.16%, and the corresponding failure rate was 15.84%. At the end of the study, all fellows were considered competent in cordocentesis. One fellow required 466 attempts to achieve competency, performing a total of 478 procedures, but the resident with the fewest attempts to reach competency required 219 procedures, completing 232 procedures. Some of the most frequent reasons for failed attempts included not reaching the indicated point for vascular access (20.99%) and being unable to retrieve the sample (69.10%). CONCLUSION: CUSUM analysis to assess learning curves, in addition to using low-cost simulation models, helped to appraise individualized learning, allowing an objective demonstration of competency for cordocentesis among MFM fellows.

Clinical triggers and vital signs influencing crisis acknowledgment and calls for help by anesthesiologists: A simulation-based observational study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: In a perioperative emergency, anesthesiologists must acknowledge the unfolding crisis promptly, call for timely assistance, and avert patient harm. We aimed to identify vital signs and qualitative factors prompting crisis acknowledgment and to compare responses between observers and participants in simulation. DESIGN: Prospective, simulation-based, observational study. SETTING: An anesthesia crisis resource management course at a freestanding simulation center. SUBJECTS: Sixty attending anesthesiologists from a variety of practice settings. INTERVENTIONS: In each case, a primary anesthesiologist in charge (PAIC) managed a simulated patient undergoing a uniformly scripted sequence of perioperative anaphylaxis and called for help from another anesthesiologist when a crisis began. Anesthesiologist observers (AOs) viewed the case separately and recorded times of crisis onset. MEASUREMENTS: Simulation footage was reviewed by investigators for patient vital signs and participant behaviors at times of crisis acknowledgment, with the call for help as an explicit proxy for PAIC crisis acknowledgment. These factors were categorized, and group-level data were compared. RESULTS: Nineteen PAICs and 41 AOs were included. Clinicians acknowledged crises around a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 65 mmHg and oxygen saturation of 94% as anaphylactic shock progressed. PAICs acknowledged crises at a higher respiratory rate than AOs (20 vs. 18 breaths/min, p = 0.038). Other vitals and timing of crisis acknowledgment did not differ between PAICs and AOs. Nearly half of all participants (45%) identified crises at MAP <65 mmHg. Timing of crisis acknowledgment varied widely (range: 421 s). CONCLUSIONS: Despite overall heterogeneity in clinical performance, anesthesiologists acknowledged crises per standard definitions of hypotension. Thresholds for crisis acknowledgment did not significantly differ between PAICs and AOs, suggesting minimal effect from active care responsibility. Many indicated crises at MAP <65 mmHg or after significant deterioration, risking failure-to-rescue events. We suggest that crisis management instruction should address triggers for requesting help.

Continuing professional development challenges in a rural setting: A mixed-methods study.

INTRODUCTION: Health professionals in rural settings encounter a wide range of medical conditions requiring broad knowledge for their clinical practice. This creates the need for ongoing continuing professional development (CPD). In this study, we explored the barriers that health professionals in a rural healthcare context faced participating in CPD activities and their preferences regarding educational strategies to overcome these challenges. METHODS: This mixed-methods (exploratory sequential) study in a community hospital in rural Mexico includes 22 interviews, 3 focus groups, 40 observational hours, and a questionnaire of healthcare staff. RESULTS: Despite low engagement with CPD activities (67% not motivated), all participants expressed interest and acknowledged the importance of learning for their practice. Barriers to participating include a disparity between strategies used (lecture-based) and their desire for practical learning, institutional barriers (poor leadership engagement, procedural flaws, and lack of resources), and collaboration barriers (adverse interprofessional education environment, ineffective teamwork, and poor communication). Additional barriers identified were inconvenient scheduling of sessions (75%), inadequate classrooms (65%), high workload (60%), ineffective speakers (60%), and boring sessions (55%). Participants' preferred learning strategies highlighted activities relevant to their daily clinical activities (practical workshops, simulations, and case analysis). The questionnaire had an 18% response rate. DISCUSSION: The barriers to CPD in this rural setting are multifactorial and diverse. A strong interest to engage in context-specific active learning strategies highlighted the need for leadership to prioritize interprofessional education, teamwork, and communication to enhance CPD and patient care. These results could inform efforts to strengthen CPD in other rural contexts.

Association of Simulation Training With Rates of Medical Malpractice Claims Among Obstetrician-Gynecologists.

OBJECTIVE: To compare malpractice claim rates before and after participation in simulation training, which focused on team training during a high-acuity clinical case. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis comparing the claim rates before and after simulation training among 292 obstetrician-gynecologists, all of whom were insured by the same malpractice insurer, who attended one or more simulation training sessions from 2002 to 2019. The insurer provided malpractice claims data involving study physicians, along with durations of coverage, which we used to calculate claim rates, expressed as claims per 100 physician coverage years. We used three different time periods in our presimulation and postsimulation training claim rates comparisons: the entire study period, 2 years presimulation and postsimulation training, and 1 year presimulation and postsimulation training. Secondary outcomes included indemnity payment amounts, percent of claims paid, and injury severity. RESULTS: Compared with presimulation training, malpractice claim rates were significantly lower postsimulation training for the full study period (11.2 vs 5.7 claims per 100 physician coverage years; P<.001) and the 2 years presimulation and postsimulation training (9.2 vs 5.4 claims per 100 physician coverage years; P=.043). For the 1 year presimulation and postsimulation training comparison, the decrease in claim rates was nonsignificant (8.8 vs 5.3 claims per 100 physician coverage years; P=.162). Attending more than one simulation session was associated with a greater reduction in claim rates. Postsimulation claim rates for physicians who attended one, two, or three or more simulation sessions were 6.3, 2.1, and 1.3 claims per 100 physician coverage years, respectively (P<.001). Compared with presimulation training, there was no significant difference in the median or mean indemnity paid, percent of claims on which an indemnity payment was made, or median severity of injury after simulation training. CONCLUSION: We observed a significant reduction in malpractice claim rates after simulation training. Wider use of simulation training within obstetrics and gynecology should be considered.

Office Patient Safety.

Patient safety is inseparable from quality and is a top priority for the United States health care system. This article explores factors that contribute to errors and patient harm in office practice, discusses key ways in which errors in the outpatient setting compare with those occurring in the inpatient setting, and describes strategies for supporting and improving patient safety in office practice.

Assessment tool for the instructional design of simulation-based team training courses: the ID-SIM.

Introduction: To achieve an expert performance of care teams, adequate simulation-based team training courses with an effective instructional design are essential. As the importance of the instructional design becomes ever more clear, an objective assessment tool would be valuable for educators and researchers. Therefore, we aimed to develop an evidence-based and objective assessment tool for the evaluation of the instructional design of simulation-based team training courses. Methods: A validation study in which we developed an assessment tool containing an evidence-based questionnaire with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and a visual chart directly translating the results of the questionnaire. Psychometric properties of the assessment tool were tested using five descriptions of simulation-based team training courses. An expert-opinion-based ranking from poor to excellent was obtained. Ten independent raters assessed the five training courses twice, by using the developed questionnaire with an interval of 2 weeks. Validity and reliability analyses were performed by using the scores from the raters and comparing them with the expert's ranking. Usability was assessed by an 11-item survey. Results: A 42-item questionnaire, using VAS, and a propeller chart were developed. The correlation between the expert-opinion-based ranking and the evaluators' scores (Spearman correlation) was 0.95, and the variance due to subjectivity of raters was 3.5% (VTraining*Rater). The G-coefficient was 0.96. The inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)) was 0.91 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.99), and intra-rater reliability for the overall score (ICC) was ranging from 0.91 to 0.99. Conclusions: We developed an evidence-based and reliable assessment tool for the evaluation of the instructional design of a simulation-based team training: the ID-SIM. The ID-SIM is available as a free mobile application.

Simulation to Improve Trainee Knowledge and Comfort About Twin Vaginal Birth.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a simulation-based curriculum on twin vaginal delivery and evaluate its effects on trainee knowledge and comfort about twin vaginal birth. METHODS: Trainees participated in a three-part simulation consisting of a patient counseling session, a twin delivery scenario, and a breech extraction skills station. Consenting trainees completed a 21-item presimulation survey and a 22-item postsimulation survey assessing knowledge, experience, attitudes, and comfort surrounding twin vaginal birth. Presimulation and postsimulation results were compared using univariate analysis. Our primary outcomes were change in knowledge and comfort before and after the simulation. RESULTS: Twenty-four obstetrics and gynecology residents consented to participation with 18 postsimulation surveys available for comparison (75%). Trainees estimated their participation in 445 twin deliveries (median 19, range 0-52) with only 20.4% of these as vaginal births. Participants reported a need for more didactic or simulated training on this topic (64% and 88%, respectively). Knowledge about twin delivery improved after the simulation (33.3% compared with 58.3% questions correct, P<.01). Before training, 33.3% of participants reported they would strongly counsel a patient to attempt vaginal birth instead of elective cesarean delivery for twins compared with 50% after training (P=.52). Personal comfort with performing a breech extraction of a nonvertex second twin improved from 5.5% to 66.7% after the simulation (P<.01). CONCLUSION: Resident exposure to twin vaginal birth is infrequent and variable with a demonstrable need for more training. Our contemporary obstetric climate is prioritizing vaginal birth despite less frequent operative obstetric interventions. We describe a reproducible twin delivery simulation associated with a favorable effect on resident knowledge and comfort levels.

Medical student simulation training in intrauterine contraception insertion and removal: an intervention to improve comfort, skill, and attitudes.

BACKGROUND: Opportunities for medical students to place intrauterine contraception (IUC) in patients are rare. Our objective was to determine whether participation in an IUC insertion and removal simulation exercise would increase medical students' comfort level with, attitudes towards, and willingness to recommend IUC. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was undertaken in all students completing the obstetrics and gynecology clerkship at a major academic hospital during the 2010-2011 academic year. The exposure consisted of a 45-minute interactive didactic session and a 30-minute, hands-on practicum in IUC placement and removal using medical instruments and realistic pelvic models. Both levonorgestrel and Cu380A IUC devices were utilized. Participants completed a pre- and post-simulation survey instrument, designed to examine students' IUC-specific knowledge, comfort, and attitudes. Pre- and post-simulation responses were compared by McNemar's test for paired samples. RESULTS: Thirty-five paired pre- and post-simulation surveys were analyzed, representing a 78 % response rate. Composite IUC-related knowledge scores increased by a median of 3 out of 10 points after the intervention (p < 0.01). Students were significantly more comfortable counseling patients about IUC as well as inserting IUC after the intervention, compared to before. Seven (20 %) students before, compared to 27 (77 %) after, agreed with the statement, "I feel comfortable placing an IUC in a patient under the supervision of an experienced doctor" (p < 0.01). Students developed significantly more favorable attitudes towards IUC through the intervention. Nineteen (54 %) participants before, compared to 27 (77 %) after, agreed with the statement, "I would recommend an IUC to my family member" (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: A hands-on simulation during the obstetrics and gynecology clerkship increased medical students' knowledge of and comfort with IUC and resulted in more favorable attitudes toward the method. Intrauterine contraception simulation in medical curricula may help expand utilization of this effective contraceptive method.

Rapid Learning of Adverse Medical Event Disclosure and Apology.

INTRODUCTION: Despite published recommended best practices for full disclosure and apology to patients and families after adverse medical events, actual practice can be inadequate. The use of "cognitive aids" to help practitioners manage complex critical events has been successful in a variety of fields and healthcare. We wished to extend this concept to disclosure and apology events. The aim of this study was to test if a brief opportunity to review a best practice guideline for disclosure and apology would improve communication performance. METHODS: Thirty pairs of experienced obstetricians and labor nurses participated in a 3-part exercise with mixed-realism simulation. The first part used a standardized actor patient to meet the obstetrical team. The second part used a high-fidelity simulation leading to an adverse medical event (retained sponge), and the third part used standardized actors, patient, and husband, who systematically move through stages of grief response. The participants were randomized into 2 groups, one was provided with a cognitive aid in the form of a best practice guideline for disclosure and apology and the other was only given time to plan. Four blinded raters working in pairs scored subjects on a 7-point scale using a previously developed assessment instrument modified for this study. RESULTS: Pooled ratings of the disclosure and apology discussion for the intervention group (n = 167, mean = 4.9, SD = 0.92) were higher than those from the control group (n = 167, mean = 4.3, SD = 1.21) (P < 0.0001). One specific element was rated higher for the intervention group than the control group; posture toward the patient (n = 27, mean = 5.1, SD = 0.82 versus n = 28, mean = 4.3, SD = 1.33) (P = 0.020). The elements of dealing with anger, dealing with depression, dealing with denial, bargaining, and acceptance were not different. CONCLUSIONS: Experienced practitioners performed better in a simulated disclosure and apology conversation after reviewing a cognitive aid in the form of a best practice guideline than a control group that was only given time to prepare.

Introduction to debriefing.

Debriefing is a lynchpin in the process of learning. As a post-experience analytic process, debriefing is a discussion and analysis of an experience, evaluating and integrating lessons learned into one's cognition and consciousness. Debriefing provides opportunities for exploring and making sense of what happened during an event or experience, discussing what went well and identifying what could be done to change, improve and do better next time. This manuscript serves as an introduction to debriefing, covering a range of topics that include a brief review of its origin, the structure and process of debriefing-specifically in the context of simulation-based medical education, and factors that facilitate effective, successful debriefing. An approach to debriefing immediately after real clinical events will be presented, as well as an evidence-based approach to evaluating debriefing skills of healthcare simulation instructors.

Speaking across the drapes: communication strategies of anesthesiologists and obstetricians during a simulated maternal crisis.

INTRODUCTION: Organizational behavior and management fields have long realized the importance of teamwork and team-building skills, but only recently has health care training focused on these critical elements. Communication styles and strategies are a common focus of team training but have not yet been consistently applied to medicine. We sought to determine whether such communication strategies, specifically "advocacy" and "inquiry," were used de novo by medical professionals in a simulation-based teamwork and crisis resource management course. Explicit expression of a jointly managed clinical plan between providers, a strategy shown to improve patient safety, was also evaluated. METHODS: Forty-four of 54 videotaped performances of an ongoing team-building skills course were viewed and analyzed for presence of advocacy and/or inquiry that related to information or a plan; inclusion criteria were participation of a nonconfederate obstetrician and an anesthesiologist. Verbal statement of a jointly managed clinical plan was also recorded. RESULTS: Anesthesiologists advocated information in 100% of cases and advocated their plans in 93% of cases but inquired information in 30% of cases and inquired about the obstetricians' plans in 11% of cases. Obstetricians advocated information in 73% of cases, advocated their plans in 73% of cases, inquired information in 75% of cases, and inquired about the anesthesiologists' plans in 59% of cases. An explicitly stated joint team plan was formed in 45% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Anesthesiologists advocated more frequently than obstetricians, while obstetricians inquired and advocated in more balanced proportions. However, fewer than half of the teams explicitly agreed on a joint plan. Increasing awareness of communication styles, and possibly incorporating these skills into medical training, may help teams arrive more efficiently at jointly managed clinical plans in crisis situations.

Risks of complications by attending physicians after performing nighttime procedures.

CONTEXT: Few data exist on the relationships between experienced physicians' work hours and sleep, and patient safety. OBJECTIVE: To determine if sleep opportunities for attending surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists are associated with the risk of complications. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Matched retrospective cohort study of procedures performed from January 1999 through June 2008 by attending physicians (86 surgeons and 134 obstetricians/gynecologists) who had been in the hospital performing another procedure involving adult patients for at least part of the preceding night (12 am-6 am, postnighttime procedures). Sleep opportunity was calculated as the time between end of the overnight procedure and start of the first procedure the following day. Matched control procedures included as many as 5 procedures of the same type performed by the same physician on days without preceding overnight procedures. Complications were identified and classified by a blinded 3-step process that included administrative screening, medical record reviews, and clinician ratings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of complications in postnighttime procedures as compared with controls; rates of complications in postnighttime procedures among physicians with more than 6-hour sleep opportunities vs those with sleep opportunities of 6 hours or less. RESULTS: A total of 919 surgical and 957 obstetrical postnighttime procedures were matched with 3552 and 3945 control procedures, respectively. Complications occurred in 101 postnighttime procedures (5.4%) and 365 control procedures (4.9%) (odds ratio, 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84-1.41). Complications occurred in 82 of 1317 postnighttime procedures with sleep opportunities of 6 hours or less (6.2%) vs 19 of 559 postnighttime procedures with sleep opportunities of more than 6 hours (3.4%) (odds ratio, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.02-2.89). Postnighttime procedures completed after working more than 12 hours (n = 958) compared with 12 hours or less (n = 918) had nonsignificantly higher complication rates (6.5% vs 4.3%; odds ratio, 1.47; 95% CI, 0.96-2.27). CONCLUSION: Overall, procedures performed the day after attending physicians worked overnight were not associated with significantly increased complication rates, although there was an increased rate of complications among postnighttime surgical procedures performed by physicians with sleep opportunities of less than 6 hours.

Obstetric simulation as a risk control strategy: course design and evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Patient safety initiatives aimed at reducing medical errors and adverse events are being implemented in Obstetrics. The Controlled Risk Insurance Company (CRICO), Risk Management Foundation (RMF) of the Harvard Medical Institutions pursued simulation as an anesthesia risk control strategy. Encouraged by their success, CRICO/RMF promoted simulation-based team training as a risk control strategy for obstetrical providers. We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of an obstetric simulation-based team training course grounded in crisis resource management (CRM) principles. METHODS: We pursued systematic design of course development, implementation, and evaluation in 3 phases, including a 1-year or more posttraining follow-up with self-assessment questionnaires. RESULTS: The course was highly rated overall by participants immediately after the course and 1-year or more after the course. Most survey responders reported having experienced a critical clinical event since the course and that various aspects of their teamwork had significantly or somewhat improved as a result of the course. Most (86%) reported CRM principles as useful for obstetric faculty and most (59%) recommended repeating the simulation course every 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: A simulation-based team-training course for obstetric clinicians was developed and is a central component of CRICO/RMF's obstetric risk management incentive program that provides a 10% reduction in annual obstetrical malpractice premiums. The course was highly regarded immediately and 1 year or more after completing the course. Most survey responders reported improved teamwork and communication in managing a critical obstetric event in the interval since taking the course. Simulation-based CRM training can serve as a strategy for mitigating adverse perinatal events.

Defining team performance for simulation-based training: methodology, metrics, and opportunities for emergency medicine.

Across health care, teamwork is a critical element for effective patient care. Yet, numerous well-intentioned training programs may fail to achieve the desired outcomes in team performance. Hope for the improvement of teamwork in health care is provided by the success of the aviation and military communities in utilizing simulation-based training (SBT) for training and evaluating teams. This consensus paper 1) proposes a scientifically based methodology for SBT design and evaluation, 2) reviews existing team performance metrics in health care along with recommendations, and 3) focuses on leadership as a target for SBT because it has a high likelihood to improve many team processes and ultimately performance. It is hoped that this discussion will assist those in emergency medicine (EM) and the larger health care field in the design and delivery of SBT for training and evaluating teamwork.

Simulation in obstetrics and gynecology.

Simulation is a practical and safe approach to the acquisition and maintenance of task-oriented and behavioral skills across the spectrum of medical specialties, including obstetrics and gynecology. Since the 1990s, the profession of obstetrics and gynecology has come to appreciate the value of simulation and major steps are being taken toward incorporating this technique into specialty-specific training, evaluation, and credentialing programs. This article provides an overview of simulators and simulation in health care and describes the scope of their current use and anticipated applications in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.

Using the Communication and Teamwork Skills (CATS) Assessment to measure health care team performance.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety administrators, educators, and researchers are striving to understand how best to monitor and improve team skills and determine what approaches to monitoring best suit their organizations. A behavior-based tool, based on principles of crisis resource management (CRM) in nonmedical industries, was developed to quantitatively assess communication and team skills of health care providers in a variety of real and simulated clinical settings. THE CATS ASSESSMENT: The Communication and Teamwork Skills (CATS) Assessment has been developed through rapid-cycle improvement and piloted through observation of videotaped simulated clinical scenarios, realtime surgical procedures, and multidisciplinary rounds. Specific behavior markers are clustered into four categories-coordination, cooperation, situational awareness, and communication. Teams are scored in terms of the occurrence and quality of the behaviors. The CATS Assessment results enable clinicians to view a spectrum of scores-from the overall score for the categories to specific behaviors. CONCLUSION: The CATS Assessment tool requires statistical validation and further study to determine if it reliably quantifies health care team performance. The patient safety community is invited to use and improve behavior-based observation measures to better evaluate their training programs, continue to research and improve observation methodology, and provide quantifiable, objective feedback to their clinicians and organizations.