S-TEAMS: A Truly Multiprofessional Course Focusing on Nontechnical Skills to Improve Patient Safety in the Operating Theater.
BACKGROUND
Possessing adequate nontechnical skills (NTS) in operating theaters is of increasing interest to health care professionals, yet these are rarely formally taught. Teams make human errors despite technical expertise and knowledge, compromising patient safety. We designed a 1-day, multiprofessional, multidisciplinary course to teach, practice, and apply these skills through simulation.


METHODS
The course, "S-TEAMS," comprised a morning of lectures, case studies, and interactive teamworking exercises. The afternoon divided the group into multiprofessional teams to rotate around simulated scenarios. During the scenarios, teams were encouraged to focus on NTS, including communication strategies, situational awareness, and prompts such as checklists. A thorough debrief with experienced clinician observers followed. Data was collected through self-assessments, immediate and 6-month feedback to assess whether skills continued to be used and their effect on safety.


RESULTS
In total, 68 health care professionals have completed the course thus far. All participants felt the course had a clear structure and that learning objectives were explicit. Overall, 95% felt the scenarios had good or excellent relevance to clinical practice. Self-assessments revealed a 55% increase in confidence for "speaking up" in difficult situations. Long-term data revealed 97% of the participants continued to use the skills, with 88% feeling the course had prevented them from making errors. Moreover, 94% felt the course had directly improved patient safety.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a real demand and enthusiasm for developing NTS within the modern theater team. The simple and easily reproducible format of S-TEAMS is sustainable and inclusive, and crucially, the skills taught continue to be used in long term to improve patient safety and teamworking.
Department of General Surgery, Croydon University Hospital, Croydon, Surrey, United Kingdom. Electronic address: e.p.stewart-parker@doctors.org.uk.
Emma
E
Stewart-Parker
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, United Kingdom.
Robert
R
Galloway
Department of General Surgery, Croydon University Hospital, Croydon, Surrey, United Kingdom.
Stella
S
Vig
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D061214:Patient Safety; D011361:Professional Competence; D000066908:Simulation Training / Q000379:methods*; D006113:United Kingdom
Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Systems-Based Practice; human factors; multiprofessional training; nontechnical skills; patient safety; simulation