Exploring the relationship between anaesthesiologists' non-technical and technical skills.

BACKGROUND: A combination of non-technical skills (NTS) and technical skills (TS) is crucial for anaesthetic patient management. However, a deeper understanding of the relationship between these two skills remains to be explored. We investigated the characteristics of trainee anaesthesiologists' NTS and TS in a simulated unexpected difficult airway management scenario. METHODS: A mixed-method approach was used to explore the relationship between NTS and TS in 25 videos of 2nd year trainee anaesthesiologists managing a simulated difficult airway scenario. The videos were assessed using the customised version of the Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills System, ANTSdk, and an adapted TS checklist for calculating the correlation between NTS and TS. Written descriptions of the observed NTS were analysed using directed content analysis. RESULTS: The correlation between the NTS and the TS ratings was 0.106 (two-tailed significance of 0.613). Inter-rater reliability was substantial. Themes characterising good NTS included a systematic approach, planning and communicating decisions as well as responding to the evolving situation. A list of desirable, concrete NTS for the specific airway management situation was generated. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates that anaesthesiologist trainees' NTS and TS were not correlated in this setting, but rather intertwined and how the interplay of NTS and TS can impact patient management. Themes describing the characteristics of NTS and a list of desirable, concrete NTS were developed to aid the understanding, training and use of NTS.

Efficacy of simulation-based trauma team training of non-technical skills. A systematic review.

Trauma resuscitation is a complex situation, and most organisations have multi-professional trauma teams. Non-technical skills are challenged during trauma resuscitation, and they play an important role in the prevention of critical incidents. Simulation-based training of these is recommended. Our research question was: Does simulation-based trauma team training of non-technical skills have effect on reaction, learning, behaviour or patient outcome? The authors searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library and found 13 studies eligible for analysis. We described and compared the educational interventions and the evaluations of effect according to the four Kirkpatrick levels: reaction, learning (knowledge, skills, attitudes), behaviour (in a clinical setting) and patient outcome. No studies were randomised, controlled and blinded, resulting in a moderate to high risk of bias. The multi-professional trauma teams had positive reactions to simulation-based training of non-technical skills. Knowledge and skills improved in all studies evaluating the effect on learning. Three studies found improvements in team performance (behaviour) in the clinical setting. One of these found difficulties in maintaining these skills. Two studies evaluated on patient outcome, of which none showed improvements in mortality, complication rate or duration of hospitalisation. A significant effect on learning was found after simulation-based training of the multi-professional trauma team in non-technical skills. Three studies demonstrated significantly increased clinical team performance. No effect on patient outcome was found. All studies had a moderate to high risk of bias. More comprehensive randomised studies are needed to evaluate the effect on patient outcome.