Integrating TeamSTEPPS in Nursing Education Using Peer Teaching

The Joint Commission identified ineffective communication as one of the top three causes of reported sentinel events from 2012-2014 (The Joint Commission, 2015).  Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is a teamwork system developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Department of Defense to improve communication and teamwork in healthcare.  The overall goal of this system is to help healthcare professionals provide safer, higher quality care to patients (AHRQ, 2010a).  The TeamSTEPPS system is organized in five different modules, which are: Team Structure, Communication, Leading Teams, Situation Monitoring, and Mutual Support.  Within each module are specific communication tools and strategies (AHRQ, 2010b).   Studies have validated TeamSTEPPS’s effectiveness in improving the efficiency of care provided in an emergency setting, reducing nosocomial infections and falls, and improving overall team performance (Capella et al., 2010; Thomas and Galla, 2013). 

With the TeamSTEPPS system being increasingly used in healthcare treatment settings, some nursing programs have started to teach their students this system.  There is little research regarding how to most effectively teach students this teamwork system.  Peer teaching has been identified as the preferred teaching method for TeamSTEPPS in the healthcare setting (AHRQ, 2010b).  The peer teaching model also provides the secondary benefits of peer mentoring.  Peer mentoring in nursing education has been shown to improve academic performance and reduce anxiety (Kim et al, 2013).

It was decided to integrate the TeamSTEPPS system into the N293 Communication for Nurses course at Brigham Young University starting this fall semester.  In the past, this course has utilized a peer teaching model where undergraduate teaching assistants have provided much of the classroom teaching using PowerPoints developed by a faculty course coordinator.  With recent evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of scenario-based learning in teaching communication skills to nursing students, a flipped peer teaching approach has been adopted (Yoo & Park, 2015).  This allows for increased practice of the TeamSTEPPS skills and strategies in the classroom to facilitate learning at the application level.  Students are required to watch video PowerPoint presentations and complete reading assignments before each class.  The video PowerPoint presentations are created by the faculty course coordinator and are accessible via the internet.  The presentations and reading provide students with all of the course content.  The majority of the time in class is spent learning how to apply the TeamSTEPPS skills using healthcare scenarios.  Most of these scenarios are videotaped, using smartphones, and then reviewed in class before the skills are re-practiced using the same scenario.  These adaptations to the course have been challenging, but have the potential to empower students with the ability to apply a research-driven system of communication and teamwork in their future careers.