The Use of High Fidelity Simulation to Improve Communication Skills among Rapid Response Team Nurses

Purpose: Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are an important element in a hospital’s quality and safety program that have been shown to decrease mortality and cardiac arrests. Communication has been identified by The Joint Commission as the third root cause of sentinel events in hospitals. High fidelity simulation (HFS) is used throughout the nursing arena as a safe means to educate and practice necessary skills. Equipping RRTs with effective communication skills to further enhance their performance will greatly impact patient care. The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in an educational intervention consisting of HFS by RRT nurses promoted the intent to use a structured communication tool when reporting to providers.
Research Question: Did participation in an educational intervention by HFS with RRT nurses in a community hospital increase their intent to use a structured communication tool when reporting to providers?
Methods: Participants from the RRT consisting of nurses from a Medical Intensive Care Unit at a community hospital participated in two simulations that closely resembled an RRT call in which a patient was deteriorating. Education about the communication tool, I-PASS-the-BATON, from AHRQ’s teamSTEPPS ,was conducted between each simulation. Participants completed a doctoral student developed survey after the second simulation to assess their intent to use the communication tool, I-PASS-the-BATON.
Findings: Twelve Rapid Response Team Nurses participated in the study in which 91.7% had the intention to use I PASS the BATON in future RRT calls.
Conclusions: Participation in HFS that included instruction on how to use a structured communication tool by RRT nurses did effect their intent to use the instrument. More study is needed due to small sample size to determine if this will promote effective communication skills among RRT nurses and maintain competencies.