On August 25th and 27th, the Critical Care Unit and 3 Bed Tower teams at the new UNC Health Care Hillsborough Hospital ran mock code blue, or heart attack, to improve teamwork and communication in a high stress situation. By immersing in the clinical simulation of a sick patient the team was able to solidify their understanding of the TeamSTEPPS™ (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety) concepts introduced by UNC Health Care Patient Safety Office.
Team training is widely recognized as an important factor in improving the quality of medical care. TeamSTEPPS™ is an evidence-based approach to teaching teamwork in high risk environments. UNC Health Care is currently supporting the roll out of TeamSTEPPS™ to the Hillsborough Hospital to closely resemble the program at the main campus. This program is being spearheaded by UNC Hospitals’ Patient Safety Officer, Dr. Celeste Mayer.
The teams were also able to identify several ways to improve their response to critical events such as this “code blue”. By changing where they will place equipment and how personnel will rotate into and out of the room, the team will be able to work more efficiently.
The unit director, Dr Carla Jones, DNP, RN, NE-BC, noted that the simulations “provided excellent feedback and helped the team come up with processes to make emergency situations better through effective communication and teamwork techniques. You [Simulation team] made this experience REAL with a positive, but honest feel! We can put these into practice day 1. This was an outstanding experience that we would like to continue with this partnership.”
For more information about TeamSTEPPS™ at UNC Health Care, click here. Questions about the TeamSTEPPS™ initiative can be directed to Celeste Mayer, PhD, RN.