Clinical trial NCT05244928: Team Training and Medication Administration in an Ambulance Service
Official title: Team Training and Medication Administration in an Ambulance Service. A Study of a Team Training Interventions' Impact on Medication Administration, Teamwork, and Patient Safety Culture.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Patient Safety
Medication Administration
Keywords: Patient safety
Team training
Medication administration
Ambulance services
Human factors
Lead sponsor: Sykehuset Innlandet HF
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
First posted: 2022-02-17
Enrollment: 131
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: The stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial imply the framework for how the "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" intervention will be introduced in the two clusters. To ease the logistics need for training and the implementation, two clusters will be formed from seven ambulance stations within the same organization. The order in which the two clusters will undergo the intervention will be randomized. The intervention will be introduced for one cluster in February 2022, and for the other cluster in September 2022.
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: Medication administration events have the potential to cause patient harm. Frequency of medication administration events in the ambulance services is less known. Effective teamwork has been described as paramount for providing safe and effective patient care in the high-risk ambulance environment. "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" is an evidence-based team training program released from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The aims of the study are: (1) to advance the knowledge of medication administration process in the ambulance services, and (2) to study the impact of a team training program on medication administration events, teamwork, and patient safety culture.

To address the overall aims, the following research objectives will guide the study:

Pre-study: To analyse and validate the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Teamwork Perception Questionnaire for use in an ambulance service.

Studies:

1. To determine the frequency of medication administration events in an ambulance service.
2. To describe the medication administration process in an ambulance service according to the "Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model".
3. To identify the impact of a team training program on the frequency of medication administration events in an ambulance service.
4. To explore ambulance professionals' experiences of teamwork before and after the implementation of a team training program and their experiences with the program.
5. To compare ambulance professionals' perceptions of teamwork and patient safety culture before and after implementation of a team training program.

Post-study: To study the association between medication administration events and team training and patient safety culture in an ambulance service.

A stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial provides the framework for the intervention of the team training program in two clusters including seven ambulance stations, in total.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria pre-study

* Ambulance professionals employed in the ambulance services

Exclusion criteria pre-study

* Under 18 years of age

Inclusion criteria study 1 and 3

* EPJs for patients who are transported or treated within the assigned areas
* Patient which receives medication (Oxygen, or clear fluid intravenously, by inhalation, intramuscularly, intraosseous, per os, sublingually, or intranasally)

Exclusion criteria study 1 and 3

* Missing and/or incomplete data.

Inclusion criteria study 2

* Ambulance professionals employed in the ambulance services

Exclusion criteria study 2

* Under 18 years of age
* Student and apprentices

Inclusion criteria study 4 and 5

* Ambulance professionals and apprentices participating in the "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" intervention

Exclusion criteria study 4 and 5

* Ambulance professionals on long-term leave
* Under 18 years of age

Primary outcomes:
measure: Testing the psychometric properties of the Teamwork Perception Questionnaire
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: The perception of patient safety culture and teamwork.
timeFrame: 3 month
measure: The frequency of medication administration in ambulance service
timeFrame: 18 month
measure: Description of the medication administration process.
timeFrame: 3 month
measure: The experiences of teamwork and the team training program before and after the intervention.
timeFrame: 4 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Association between medication administration, team training and patient safety culture
timeFrame: 21 month
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Brumunddal
country: Norway
facility: Innlandet Hospital Trust
Study officials:
affiliation: Sykehuset Innlandet HF
name: Ingeborg Hartz, PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References: