Objectives: Neonatal resuscitation is a high acuity, low-occurrence (HALO) event and many rural pediatricians report feeling underprepared for these events. We piloted a longitudinal telesimulation (TS) program with a rural hospital's interprofessional delivery room teams aimed at improving adherence to Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP®) guidelines and teamwork.
Study design: A TS study was conducted monthly in one rural hospital over a ten month period from November 2020 to August 2021. TS sessions were remotely viewed and debriefed by experts. Sessions were video recorded and assessed using a scoring tool with validity evidence for NRP® adherence. Teamwork was assessed using both TeamSTEPPS 2.0 Team Performance Observation Tool and Mayo High-Performance Teamwork Scale.
Results: We conducted ten TS sessions in one rural hospital. There were 24 total participants, who rotated through monthly sessions, ensuring interdisciplinary team composition was reflective of realistic staffing. NRP® adherence rate for full code scenarios improved from a baseline of 39% to 95%. Compared with baseline data for efficiency, multiple NRP® skills improved (e.g. cardiac lead placement occurred 12x faster). Teamwork scores showed improvement in all domains.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that a TS program aimed at improving NRP® and team performance is possible to implement in a rural setting. Our pilot study showed a trend towards improved NRP® adherence, increased skill efficiency, and higher quality teamwork and communication in one rural hospital. Additional research is needed to analyze program efficacy on a larger scale and to understand the impact of training on patient outcomes.
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