Pulse | Issue 29 | July 2017

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By Ms. Janice Kee
Senior Nurse
Educator,
Coronary Care Unit
(CCU)
Ward 28, NUHCS
Janice joined NUH in 2003 and has
been working in CCU Ward 28 since
2004. Joining the Intensive Care Unit/High
Dependency team of educators in 2008,
she ful lled her passion for training and
sharing knowledge and skills with others.
She hopes to venture more into simulation
training so that others can bene t from
what she has learnt.
By Ms. Tay
Miao Qin
Assistant Manager,
Operations &
Administration,
NUHCS
Miao Qin oversees the operations of
Diagnostic Vascular Lab and Heart
Rehabilitation services. She also supports
the Patient Safety Of cers on patient
safety initiatives in the Department of
Cardiology.
I medical errors and adverse event occur-
rence. The programme also harnesses
key concepts on teamwork, leadership,
situation monitoring, mutual support
and communication.
Trainings and Discussions
Since its initial launch, the PS team has
conducted ve in-situ simulation pro-
grammes with 40 participants including
clinicians, nurses, medical technologists,
radiographers and patient service as-
sociates.
In-depth discussions were held with site
supervisors and participants before the
initiation of the programme. The PS
team created realistic clinical scenarios
as training platforms with the utilisation
of manikins. The simulations were then
video recorded for the trainers to review
and identify areas for improvement.
Future Plans
The programme has been warmly re-
ceived, with marked improvements in
team performance and communication
during crisis.
The PS team has made future plans for
the programme, which includes:
• Bi-annual simulations for each critical
unit;
• Simulations on inter-department com-
plex cases such as operative thea-
tre nurses, cardiothoracic surgeons,
anaesthetists and perfusionists;
• Train-the-trainer programme to em-
power teams and ensure continuity
of safe quality care for patients.•
TeamSTEPPS is an
evidence-based
teamwork system which
improves patient
outcomes by optimising
communication and
teamwork among
healthcare professionals.
– Hoe Kwei Fong, Senior Staff Nurse
(Angiography Centre)
Communication is of
utmost importance to enable
a team to function effectively.
I would recommend my fellow
colleagues to undergo this
programme as well.
n alignment with NUHCS’s
patient safety guidelines, four
facilities were identi ed as key
service units that require rapid coordi-
nated care due to their high-risk
patient pro les and complexity of pro-
cedures performed there. The units are
Angiography Centre, Diagnostic Cardi-
ology Lab, Diagnostic Nuclear Lab
and Coronary Care Unit.
The Simulation Programme
The PS team, led by Asst. Prof. Edgar
Tay, Senior Consultant, NUHCS, deve-
loped our Inter-Professional Crisis
Management Simulation Programme
with support from Nursing and Opera-
tions and Administration divisions.
Launched in October 2016, the pro-
gramme adopts patient safety strate-
gies, team strategies and tools to
enhance performance and patient
safety (TeamSTEPPS).
Both strategies seek to enhance staff’s
awareness towards the prevention of
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