Setup and Execution of the Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice Death Notification Curriculum

Abstract

Death notification is an important and challenging aspect of Emergency Medicine. An Emergency Medicine physician must deliver bad news, often sudden and unexpected, to patients and family members without any previous relationship. Unskilled death notification after unexpected events can lead to the development of pathologic grief and posttraumatic stress disorder. It is paramount for Emergency Medicine physicians to be trained in and practice death notification techniques. The GRIEV_ING curriculum provides a conceptual framework for death notification. The curriculum has demonstrated improvement in learners' confidence and competence when delivering bad news. Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice is a simulation-based medical education technique that uses within the scenario debriefing. This technique uses the concepts of mastery learning and deliberate practice. It allows educators to pause a scenario, provide directed feedback, and then let learners continue the simulation scenario the "right way." The purpose of this scholarly work is to describe how to apply the Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice debriefing technique to the GRIEV_ING death notification curriculum to more effectively train learners in the delivery of bad news.