Teamwork and Communication are the Cornerstones to Providing Safe and Effective Patient Care in Hospitals
The Institute of Medicine’s 2000 report “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System” suggested that close to 90% of medical errors are a result of failed systems and procedures. The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, cites team training as an essential factor in reducing risk of medical errors.
The 2008 National Patient Safety Goal, which applies to Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals, also requires formal education for those that provide urgent response to critical conditions.
Laerdal Medical Corporation and SimMedical, a company of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), have developed two cutting-edge health care simulation curricula products to address this critical training need for hospitals. This curricula has been designed with simulation educational methodology and incorporates healthcare best practices. The goal of these courses is to improve overall clinical performance, reduce medical errors and increase patient safety through teamwork and communication.
These “courses-in-a-box” contain a complete array of educational tools for Faculty Instructors, Participants and Simulation Support Personnel.
Dr. Michael A. DeVita, M.D., FACP, author of the Rapid Response Team Training Curriculum planned and promoted one of the world’s first and better known Rapid Response Systems. This system has reduced cardiac arrests and mortality by increasing the number of monitored beds in the hospital and creating teams to respond to a variety of critical and emergent patient needs.
The First 5 Minutes Curriculum ® was written by several authors, including Tom Dongili, the Director of Operations for the WISER Institute. This course is developed to train hospital staff to manage a patient in crisis and to respond appropriately during the critical first five minutes of a medical crisis, prior to the code team arrival. It is appropriate for use by professional floor nurses, med-surgical nurses, respiratory therapists and any other floor staff that have contact with patients.
Visit www.laerdal.com/courseware for more information on the Rapid Response Team Training and The First 5 Minutes® curricula products.
To view SimMedical’s Video on the Rapid Response product go to:
http://www.simmedical.com/sites/simmedical/aboutus/cttTrainingAd.asp
To learn more about Rapid Response Teams, read the IHI Article “Rapid Response Teams: the Case for Early Intervention at: