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Women’s Hospital is conducting a series of hospital-wide training sessions to enhance patient care and safety by developing teamwork capabilities and inter-professional practice among their healthcare providers.
The hospital will be the first in the Middle East to carry-out the training provided by the renowned TeamSTEPPS program. The goal is to fully engage all Women’s Hospital staff with the program, and integrate the methods learned into their everyday practice.
TeamSTEPPS is an evidence based teamwork system developed by the United States’ Department of Defense in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The aim of the program is to produce highly effective clinical teams that optimize the use of information, people and resources to achieve the best clinical outcomes for their patients.
“TeamSTEPPS is a powerful tool that will support the hospital’s staff in continuing to deliver the safest, most effective and most compassionate care to each and every one of our patients,” stated Dr. Salwa Abu Yaqoub, Vice Chair of Education, Clinical Lead of TeamSTEPPS training and Senior Consultant of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“Throughout the patient journey, a woman may encounter many healthcare professionals. Practical implementation of the TeamSTEPPS communication tools can really enhance a patient’s safety,” she stated.
Over 500 clinicians from Nursing, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Anesthesia, and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit participated in the week-long training session. Participants are taught four key competencies based on leadership, communications, situational monitoring and mutual support. These competencies aim to further increase staff adaptability, accuracy, productivity, efficiency, safety and mutual trust between team members which is proven to decrease medical errors.
“What is great about the training program is that it promotes stronger inter-professional working between doctors, nurses and other, members of the clinical support team and other departments through a series of tools and strategies,” said said Dr. Maryam Kunjachen, Specialist for Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women’s Hospital and faculty member of TeamStepps training.
“With the training, we start thinking less like an individual and more like a team and an essential part of this team includes our patients,” she said, adding that “TeamSTEPPS is a very valuable program that gives everyone the opportunity to be part of communications in order to provide the best possible patient care.”
In collaboration with Hamad International Training Center (HITC), Women’s Hospital has run a total of 31 sessions, in their dedicated simulation training facility. Their goal is to complete TeamSTEPPS training for all clinicians by the end of the year prior to transferring to the new Women’s Wellness and Research Center scheduled to open in 2017.
