STEPPS to transformation - Part 1

TeamSTEPPS is an evidenced-based teamwork program developed jointly by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the United States to improve teamwork, collaboration, and communication relating to patient safety. TeamSTEPPS is an acronym for Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety. 

 

The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) – now Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) – is the designated national coordinating body for TeamSTEPPS Canada™. HEC partnered with the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) to deliver the TeamSTEPPS Canada™ Program as a Regional Training Centre. The ‘TeamSTEPPS Canada™ Essentials Course’ is an engaging and interactive session that introduces tools and concepts of teamwork, which include team structure, communication, leading teams, situation monitoring, and mutual support.  

 

Tools and concepts learned in the TeamSTEPPS Canada™ program are applicable in any healthcare setting to all healthcare leaders, administrators, providers, and patients and families.  For example, a past program participant introduced the SBAR tool, a mnemonic that stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations and is traditionally used for patient handover, to their organization which resulted in the hospital wide use of the tool to improve and standardize email communications for all employees.   

 

The overall objectives of the session are to: 

• Identify the importance of TeamSTEPPS Canada™ principles  

• Provide examples of how TeamSTEPPS Canada™ tools can be used to improve teamwork in any organization 

• Discuss practical ways for leaders to adapt the information within their organizations 

 

Presenters 

Rhonda Pouliot – Lead, Capacity Building and Engagement, Health Quality Council of Alberta 

James Stroud – Lead, Health System Improvement, Health Quality Council of Alberta 

Valoria Hait – Quality and Safety Leader, Neonatal Program, BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre 

 

Moderator 

Kim Kinder – Director, Health Innovation Programs, Healthcare Excellence Canada