Improving Teamwork for Neonatal Resuscitation

The Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) is the curriculum used to teach providers how to care for newborns in the delivery room. Breakdowns in teamwork and communication contribute to NRP quality problems. Adding teamwork instruction to NRP may be a method to improve communication, teamwork, and the overall quality of neonatal resuscitation. This study uses simulation to incorporate team training into NRP and to evaluate both the effectiveness and duration of the team training. Furthermore, because high fidelity simulation is very expensive and not widely available, we will compare NRP with low fidelity team training to NRP with high fidelity team training. Our hypotheses are: 1. NRP with low fidelity team training results in a) better teamwork, and b) better quality of care compared with standard NRP. 2. NRP with high fidelity team training does not result in better teamwork or better quality of care than NRP with low fidelity simulation. 3. NRP with high fidelity team training does not produce a longer lasting effect on teamwork than NRP with low fidelity simulation.