Healthcare is most efficient and effective when professionals work together toward a common goal. As part of our commitment to quality care, Central Maine Healthcare offers TeamSTEPPS (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety) to new and existing nurses. The program allows nurses to gain the confidence they need to make decisions quickly and accurately with the support of their teams.
Created by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Department of Defense, TeamSTEPPS is a set of teamwork tools proven to improve communication and collaboration between healthcare workers. By implementing this program, healthcare organizations optimize patient safety and minimize medical errors.
Our healthcare professionals participating in TeamSTEPPS focus on four key skills to improve their competency where teamwork is concerned:
- Communication
- Mutual Support
- Leadership
- Situation Monitoring
They also understand how the four skills work together with the three Team Competency Outcomes:
- Attitudes
- Knowledge
- Performance
The skills learned through TeamSTEPPS are implemented during each patient’s treatment regimen. TeamSTEPPS principles may be applied when:
- Sharing the treatment plan with the team. During this event, the team is primarily concerned with assigning important roles and responsibilities, establishing expectations and anticipating outcomes.
- Huddling to monitor and modify the plan when necessary and debriefing to evaluate team performance. During a debriefing session, TeamSTEPPS graduates may apply the skills they have learned and developed to reinforce the positive behaviors necessary for exemplary patient care.Overall, Central Maine Healthcare nurses who participate in TeamSTEPPS have the confidence to ensure that mistakes or oversights are identified and remedied quickly.
