It’s unrealistic to assume that emergencies will go smoothly without practice. Simulations with Tegria provided a safe space to improve patient safety in the outpatient setting. They allowed our staff to expose gaps in the real process, figure out what they need, and where emergency supplies and equipment should be located and used. This empowered leadership to see and get things in place that we didn’t realize were missing.

Nurse Manager, Seattle Heart and Vascular Institute Clinics, Swedish Medical Center

Background and Challenge 

Seattle-based Providence Swedish Hospital sought to optimize patient outcomes, streamline care delivery, and energize their care team to recognize and care for patients experiencing medical emergencies in the outpatient care setting.  They believed using advanced medical simulation presented an opportunity for the clinical team to evaluate their proposed workflow and practice key roles and crucial tasks to reliably deliver safe, high-quality care in emergencies. Specific goals included: 

• Employ a team-oriented approach 
• Implement current policies and emergency care workflows practicing lifesaving skills, teamwork, communication, and equipment using Macro-Simulation™ 
• Improve caregiver confidence related to providing care during medical emergencies 

 Solution 

 Swedish leveraged Tegria’s proven Macro-Simulation^TM methodology and facilitators to engage outpatient clinic multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, medical assistants, and administrative staff. Together, they reviewed policies, identified workflow gaps and solutions, and embedded caregiver roles and workflows using process improvement, role delineation, communication practice, team building, and debriefing.  

Key components of the holistic training included:  

• Team-oriented approach: Listening to caregivers’ concerns, ideas and solutions and incorporating feedback into processes  
• Used Macro–Simulation: To identify key gaps and risks, and mitigate by practicing with lifesaving equipment in a realistic environment 
• Improved confidence and outcomes: Outpatient teams demonstrated quicker implementation of lifesaving interventions, more complete documentation, and definitive care in simulated patients 

Results 

 Participants reported significant increases in confidence, feelings of engagement, and awareness of emergency equipment, policies, and procedures after the simulation.  

Testimonials

“Our experience was invaluable. We had great takeaways for the team and leadership can now get things in place that were didn’t realize were missing. This required objective feedback to look at our system and critically evaluate it.” 

-Nurse Manager, Seattle Heart and Vascular Institute