Creating a Culture of Teamwork Through the Use of Teamstepps Strategies within Women's and Infants Service Line

Lundeen, Suzanne

Sunday, 17 November 2013: 2:45 PM

Suzanne Lundeen, RN, PhD
Bent Taub General Hospital, Women's and Infant's, Labor and Delivery, Harris Health System, Houston, TX
Maureen S Padilla, DNP, RNC-OB, NEA-BC
Women's and Infant's Services, Harris Health System - Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston, TX

Learning Objective 1: Identify how the “snapshot” teamwork technique improves patient safety and satisfaction within an organization.

Learning Objective 2: Describe nursing practice implications based on the TeamSTEPPS approach to collaboration.

The goal of this project was to improve patient safety and satisfaction by implementing an evidence-based system to enhance communication and teamwork skills among health care professionals. A multidisciplinary group committed to changing the culture of the Women’s and Infants department attended the TeamSTEPPS master training course. The team identified communication as a recurring problem that threatened patient safety and satisfaction and developed the department-wide “snapshot” as an intervention to improve communication.

A four- hour interactive workshop was attended by key departmental direct patient care stakeholders. The remaining departmental staff attended a mandatory two hour workshop; both workshops highlighted the TeamSTEPPS philosophy and provided an opportunity to practice TeamSTEPPS behaviors and the “snapshot.” The interdisciplinary department-wide “snapshot” is conducted twice daily and is led by the Obstetric faculty and attended by L&D, antepartum, OR and mother/baby charge nurses, Anesthesia, Neonatology, Certified Nurse Midwife, Family Medicine and Pediatrics. The snapshot is a scripted report that provides an opportunity discuss all relevant patient care topics. To close the snapshot, the Obstetric faculty clearly states: “If any team member sees anything unsafe or not in the best interests of our patients, we expect you to speak up. If you are unable to get a timely or effective response, call me, obstetric faculty, Dr. _______.”

Improved communication and collaboration has been evidenced by expediting safe mother-baby discharges during periods of increased census, enhanced intercommunication between obstetrics and anesthesia departments, improved operating room productivity, timely and effective neonatology consultations and accessibility and accountability of the obstetric faculty member on-duty. Effective collaboration and communication are essential elements of professional nursing. The department-wide “snapshot” encourages nurses to be actively involved in the multidisciplinary healthcare team and make valuable, evidence-based contributions to patient safety and satisfaction.

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