Proficiency-Based Progression Training for Clinical Communication

Importance: Clinical communication is an important source of medical error and preventable adverse events. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of proficiency-based progression (PBP) simulation training for ISBAR (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication in the deteriorating patient. Setting: The study will be conducted in University College Cork, Ireland. Participants: Third year undergraduate nursing and fifth year medical students, who are scheduled to undertake ISBAR training as part of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) programme. Intervention: Participants will be prospectively randomized to one of three groups before undertaking a performance assessment of an ISBAR communication relevant to a deteriorating patient in a high fidelity simulation laboratory: HSE group (the national e-learning programme only); S group (national e- learning plus simulation training) and PBP group (national e-learning plus proficiency-based progression simulation). Main outcome and measures: A proficiency benchmark on the performance of ISBAR communication in the context of an acutely deteriorating patient.