Nontechnical Teaching Skills Education for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Clinical Instructors and the Impact on the Clinical Education of Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this Scholarly project was to improve Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist (SRNA) clinical education consistency and quality by enhancing communication between Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) clinical instructors and SRNAs. This was accomplished by educating CRNA clinical instructors on non-technical skills, communication tools, and a common language, based on Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS(R)), for use when providing clinical instruction to SRNAs. Methods: CRNA clinical instructor reactions, learning, and behavior were assessed with online Qualtrics surveys pre- and post-intervention. Participants completed a pre-intervention survey, four Microsoft PowerPoint TeamSTEPPS(R) nontechnical skills (NTS) modules, an immediate post-intervention survey, and a 1-month post-intervention survey. The TeamSTEPPS(R) Coaching Module, Leading Teams, Situation Monitoring, and Mutual Support Modules were adapted and transformed into the pilot study modules for this scholarly project. Results: Team structure, situational monitoring, mutual support, communication, and satisfaction with SRNA communication attitudes and perceptions mean scores increased while leadership attitudes and perceptions mean score decreased between pre- and immediate postintervention data. The majority of CRNA clinical instructor participants (87.5%) scored an 80% or higher on the 10 post-intervention educational module knowledge assessment questions. Communication, situational monitoring, mutual support, and communication tools behavior mean scores increased between the pre- and 1-month post-intervention data. Conclusion: The results of this scholarly project demonstrate the potential for a simple, cost effective educational intervention to alter the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of CRNA clinical instructors related to NTS utilization when working with SRNAs. It illustrates the ability of TeamSTEPPS(R) to function as a framework for NTS education for CRNAs. While the pilot nature of the project precluded analysis to demonstrate statistical significance, it may inspire future research that focuses on SRNA educational objectives and performance as a primary outcome. Future studies may also include direct measures of CRNA clinical instructor NTS behaviors while teaching SRNAs.