Chair File: Team Training Improves Patient Safety

Improving communication and teamwork skills can enhance the work of health care teams and optimize patient outcomes. Next week, June 20-22, the AHA is hosting a Team Training National Conference in San Diego for health care organizations to improve patient safety by successfully implementing and sustaining TeamSTEPPS, an evidence-based set of teamwork tools. Hospitals and health systems across the U.S. have used TeamSTEPPS to improve quality and safety.
 
Keynote speakers at the conference include Jeff Skiles, co-pilot of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, called the “Miracle on the Hudson,” and Bryan Sexton, associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke School of Medicine and director of the Patient Safety Center, Duke University Health System. 
 
This conference is open to clinicians and non-clinicians and can be attended by both novices and experts in TeamSTEPPS. TeamSTEPPS and team training is a meeting point where different interdisciplinary groups from diverse health settings come together. It’s a wonderful opportunity to expand your knowledge about techniques, tools and ideas to improve patient safety and also to make valuable contacts in the field and around the globe.
 
In addition to the conference, AHA Team Training schedules in-person TeamSTEPPS master training courses throughout the year at regional training centers and also offers customized coaching and education onsite.
 
There’s still time to register for the June 20-22 conference. You can find more information about the conference and a variety of educational offerings on the AHA webpage.