Half-Day Training Content
In a half-day training, Module 3 activities should take about 30 minutes (as noted below). Components to include in the Situation Monitoring Module for a half-day training include:
Introductory Teamwork Exercise #2: 5 minutes
Objectives and Introduction to Situation Monitoring: 2 minutes
Situation Monitoring: 2 minutes
- The concept: 2 minutes
- Group discussion: 3 minutes
- What they are and why they matter: 2 minutes
- Overcoming challenges to them: 2 minutes
- Overview of tools: 1 minute
- STEP: 6 minutes
- I'M SAFE: 4 minutes
- Cross-Monitoring
- The concept: 2 minutes
Unit Summary: 1 minute
You may choose to spend more time on some of these activities and to omit others. Alternatively, you may want to include other parts of the situation monitoring materials instead of some of the components noted above. In a half-day course, the focus is likely to be on specific, usable tools, so try to spend as much time on them as possible.
Teaching Goals
As noted in the introductory section, it’s important to continuously reinforce your enthusiasm for TeamSTEPPS and its importance to patients and healthcare workers. Continue to foster mutual respect, fun, and transparency using active learning and listening throughout the section. Specific goals for teaching this section include understanding both the situation monitoring key concepts and the tools that will enhance situation monitoring skills. Specific objectives for teaching this module are identified below:
- Understand how situation monitoring affects team processes and outcomes.
- Explain situation awareness and identify approaches to maximize it.
- Define a shared mental model and how it is cultivated within a team.
- List components of the STEP and other mnemonic tools.
Teamwork Exercise
If you used an initial teamwork exercise during the introduction, using a related exercise at the start of this module can help reengage the class and introduce the value of situation monitoring. The exercise in the 2-day training section can still be used (see Slides 2 and 3). Do the situation monitoring exercise and discuss what was learned using the questions on Slide 3 in the 2-day training session above.
Introduction and Objectives
Briefly review the learning objectives for the module (Slide 4). Then introduce the concept of situation monitoring and its relationship to the other three core TeamSTEPPS skills (communication, team leadership, and mutual support, shown on Slide 5). It’s important to emphasize that every part of TeamSTEPPS is needed to foster a culture of safety. Encourage the trainees to look for specific concepts and tools they can apply to their own teams after the training.
Situation Monitoring
Explain how the skill of situation monitoring leads to situation awareness and supports the team outcome of a shared mental model (Slide 6).
Situation Awareness
Note that situation awareness is the outcome achieved by situation monitoring. Use an example to illustrate the four key dimensions that situation awareness entails (Slide 7). Ask participants to form small groups for the discussion on Slide 8. To save time, faculty can circulate among teams and the teams will not be asked to report out on their conclusions. Slide 9 can be displayed briefly to show that the groups have generated a similar list of factors documented by experts.
Shared Mental Models
Remind participants that the whole team needs a shared mental model of a situation or patient’s status to work well together (Slide 10). Use the photo and definition on Slide 11 to clarify the meaning and importance of a shared mental model. Note that shared mental models require engagement, commitment, and effective communication in the group.
To save time, pick one or two of the images on Slide 12 to make the point that perceptions vary among team members; different people may assign different meanings to the same information. Use Slide 13 to reinforce the connections between tools the participants have learned about in Modules 1 and 2 and their use to foster shared mental models in their team.
If time permits, ask participants to share an example from their own experience of how the lack of a shared mental model caused problems for their team and how they corrected it. Alternatively, ask participants for a positive experience with shared mental models.
Situation Monitoring Tools
After providing a short overview of the situation monitoring tools and noting that the TeamSTEPPS website includes much more information about them (Slide 14), we recommend you use the same approach to teaching each tool as described above for a 2-day training. If you lack time to cover all the tools, consider leaving one of them out so you can help your class fully understand the importance and use of each tool you do teach.
Unit Summary
Slide 23 can be used to convey how situation monitoring and its tools can help to overcome important barriers and to achieve the positive outcomes TeamSTEPPS was created for. If time permits, ask participants which of the tools they think will most improve the teams they belong to and why.
