In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, USF Health’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning & Simulation (CAMLS) partnered with a local hospital (Level 1 Trauma Center) to provide urgent trainings and critical support to interprofessional healthcare teams in the Tampa Bay community. As a Level 1 Trauma Center, the hospital’s multidisciplinary team of physicians, specialty surgeons, nurses and other healthcare specialists are onsite 24/7, and had to be prepared to not only treat patients with traumatic injuries, but those who were potentially COVID-19 positive. Our team helped develop and implement new, team-based trainings designed to mitigate risk of COVID-19 transmission in high-risk procedures among interprofessional healthcare teams on the front lines. These simulation-based trainings were designed to reflect the rapidly-changing global conditions and evolve to incorporate the latest research to safeguard our healthcare teams and improve patient care.
Our team-based trainings were developed in close collaboration with an interprofessional team representing different areas of expertise within the hospital and our simulation center. To ensure a rapid design process and an expedited implementation, we included operational, quality assurance, and educational support staff in the development process to compliment the expertise of the hospital’s clinical teams. Based on our preliminary metrics from the trainings, we believe that our efforts to prepare our clinical teams for high-risk procedures will help drive patient safety and quality. Our survey results indicate an increase in providers and healthcare worker competence and confidence in their work environment with 92% reporting they felt safer caring for COVID-19 patients as a result of the training. Through intentional integration of interprofessional teams in the educational development process, USF Health CAMLS was able to quickly and successfully implement effective training strategies to safeguard our healthcare teams and improve patient care in our community in the midst of a global health crisis.
Disclosures:
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s Standards for Commercial Support, adopted by the Joint Accreditors for Interprofessional Continuing Education, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has a conflict of interest policy that requires that all individuals involved in the development of activity content disclose their relevant financial relationships with commercial interests. All potential conflicts of interest that arise based upon these financial relationships are resolved prior to the educational activity.
Katherine Kenny, Stephanie Kiser, Tamarie Macon, Bryan Hodge, Rachel Bemis, Kathryn Neil, Joseph Sanford, Kevin Sexton, Colleen Reiner, Haru Okuda, Philip Wortham
declare no vested interest in or affiliation with any commercial interest offering financial support for this interprofessional continuing education activity, or any affiliation with a commercial interest whose philosophy could potentially bias their presentation.
In support of improving patient care, this activity is planned and implemented by The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Provider, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
