15 health care students complete patient safety training

This spring, 15 health care students completed TeamSTEPPS student training.

TeamSTEPPS stands for Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety and is a program developed by the Department of Defense’s Patient Safety Program as a solution to improving patient safety within health care. Over the course of four weeks, students learned about this evidence based teamwork system to improve communication and teamwork skills. The goal of this training was to provide health care pre-professionals the tools to directly improve patient safety.

Students from allied health science, nursing, and pre-health came together to learn about crucial skills such as effective communication, situational awareness, mutual support, and leadership, all of which are essential for seamless teamwork in health care settings. By understanding the importance of shared decision-making, active listening, and clear information exchange, these students are now better equipped to contribute to interdisciplinary care teams and deliver optimal patient outcomes.

Students reflected weekly in their MAP (My Aspire Plan) to track their learning. One student reflected, “The tools I learned today will shape the excellence of health care by ensuring effective communication between team members.” Another student wrote, “Patient advocacy and safety is a huge huge thing in health care and very important. This lesson taught me that I deserve a voice especially when concerning patient safety.”

The successful completion of TeamSTEPPS training by these students represents a significant milestone in their health care journey and will impact their future patients. By prioritizing effective communication and teamwork, they are poised to contribute to a future in which patient safety and quality of care are paramount.

This pilot program will be offered to health care students in future semesters to ensure that Carthage health care students are focused on providing patient safety centered care. Carthage health care students will serve as catalysts for excellence in health care by promoting a culture of teamwork, trust, and effective communication within any health care team they find themselves a part of. This pilot program was made possible by the generosity of the Franklin I and Irene List Saemann Foundation. TeamSTEPPS was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

See more information about TeamSTEPPS

Sponsoring Department, Office, or Organization:

The Aspire Center, Pre-Health Program, Nursing Program, Allied Health Science Program

For more information, contact:

along3@carthage.edu