An Evaluation of the Use of Deliberate Practice and Simulation to Train Interns in Requesting Blood Products. Issue 2 (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Joyce, Kenneth M.; Byrne, Dara; O'Connor, Paul; Lydon, Sinéad M.; Kerin, Michael J.
• Is Part Of: Simulation in healthcare. Volume 10:Issue 2(2015)
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: Simulated patients -- Periodicals; 362.1
• DOI: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000070
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1559-2332

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title>Introduction</title> <p>Technical or practical skills deficits upon graduation from medical school are prevalent and contribute to increasing medical error. The current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a simulation- and deliberate practice-based learning program for requesting blood products, delivered to newly graduated interns.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>Methods</title> <p>The requesting of blood products by a group of 27 "trained" interns was prospectively compared with that of a group of 30 "untrained" interns throughout the first 13 weeks of internship at an Irish teaching hospital.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>Results</title> <p>Our analysis showed that the training intervention reduced the risk of a rejected sample by 65% as compared with interns who did not receive the training. Moreover, the risk of a rejected sample for trained interns was 45% lower than for much more experienced doctors. The untrained interns required more than 2 months of clinical experience to reach an error rate that was not significantly different from that of the trained interns.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>These findings indicate that skills acquired through deliberate practice generalized to the clinical setting led to a significant reduction in blood product prescribing errors.</p> </sec> </abstract>