The Impact of Communication Training in High Fidelity Simulation of Emergency ICU Resuscitation

Abstract

The intensive care unit (ICU) is a high-risk environment that requires cross-professional teams to provide life-saving patient care. There is ample evidence that poor communication creates situations where medical errors are likely to occur and affect patient safety. We tested whether communication-oriented debriefing following high-fidelity simulation improves quality of information exchange reflecting collaborative work in ICU teams. Ten teams of six cross-professional ICU workers participated in three simulation-based training sessions. After each training session, the experimental group was debriefed on communication-oriented skills (based on Crew Resource Management, CRM), while the control group was debriefed on technical skills. The analysis was double-blind; 30 videotaped sessions were coded for three types of communication measures by four observers showing adequate inter-rater reliability. Results suggest that high-fidelity simulation training can improve non-technical skills in cross-professional ICU teams. Further investigation is needed on the performance effects of communication-focused debriefing.