Using simulation to help healthcare professionals relaying patient information during telephone conversations

Background The purpose of this paper is to describe a development project in which simulation was used to improve the telephone-based conversations between nurses in an emergency department (ED) and physicians from different specialties taking care of acutely ill patients. Methods A needs analysis consisting of observations and interviews was conducted and a one-day simulation-based interprofessional team training course was developed. Observations of phone conversations pre-course, three and six months after the course were conducted in the clinical setting with 20 participants in each point of time. A 14-item evaluation tool was used to record how many information pieces were communicated. Results Five courses were conducted for 66 nurses/nurse assistants and 17 physicians. 9 out of the 14 items were reported significantly more after the course. Item that were not reported in the pre-measurement, increased to around 20% reporting three months after the course but then fell to close to 0% again after six months. Conclusions The patterns of retention and decrease of the effect could be an indicator for norms, values and beliefs held by professions about what constitutes their task