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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03478579

Non-technical Skills of Emergency Physicians in a Virtual Emergency Department

The investigators will study nontechnical skills of emergency physicians in a virtual standardized emergency room and their impact on quality of care.

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Key information

Conditions

Emergencies Disease Attributes Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

CHU Toulouse

Toulouse, 31059, France

About this study

The ability to manage multiple patients and anticipate the risk of error related to task interruptions or disruptions has been identified among relevant non-technical skills (NTS) for practicing emergency medicine. However, the link between these skills and the quality of care has not been quantified. NTS are usually analyzed by qualitative methods such as interviews, direct observations, or questionnaires that have low performance according to the GRADE system (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation).

The investigators have created and validated an experimental model of a virtual, authentic and realistic Emergency Department (ED). The platform has been modelled in a "Second Life" environment. The NTS of emergency physicians will be assessed and recorded during simulated care of multiple virtual patients. The NTS association with ED length of stay and disposition decision will be analyzed. This study will be an internal pilot study and will include 30 emergency physicians who practice emergency medicine for at least two years.

Sessions will be performed in the Toulouse Institute of Health Care Simulation, Toulouse University Hospital. They will be composed of three stages: briefing (30 minutes), simulated practice (3 hours), and debriefing with an explicit interview (30 minutes). Two researchers and a computer technician will supervise the sessions. The data will be obtained by analyzing the video recorded during the simulated practice and the interview.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Active emergency physicians working in an ED of the French Midi-Pyrenees region
  • Two years of practice in emergency medicine or more
  • Volunteer to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

  • Emergency physician working in another setting than ED, outside the Midi-Pyrenees region, or practicing emergency medicine for less than 2 years.

Treatment and study plan

Observational

Other

No intervention, it is observational study

Primary outcomes

  1. Nontechnical skills

    Time frame: 3 hours

    The nontechnical skills will be assessed by the Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) system.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Quality of care will be measured by a composite criteria (process and result)

    Time frame: 3 hours

    Quality of care will be measured by a composite criterion associating a process indicator and a result indicator :

    • The process indicator is the average time to medical care of patients
    • The result indicator corresponds to the relevance of the choice of the orientation of each patient by the emergency doctor at the end of medical care

  2. ED length of stay

    Time frame: 3 hours

    The quality of care will be assessed by ED length of stay : ED length of stay will be measured from triage completion to disposition decision

  3. The authenticity of the virtual emergency medicine service

    Time frame: 3 hours

    Evaluation of the consistency : perceived internal consistency in the proposed rules and situations will be assessed using a 4-item questionnaire by answering yes or no

  4. The authenticity of the virtual emergency medicine service

    Time frame: 3 hours

    Evaluation of the realism (the assumed resemblance with a real life reference) will be evaluated through a questionnaire containing 3 areas of comparison between the virtual and real environment (layout of the premises, duration of the actions, staff / patient ratio) with as answer possible for each comparison: Realistic or not realistic.

  5. The authenticity of the virtual emergency medicine service

    Time frame: 3 hours

    Evaluation of the relevance (necessary to allow users to take ownership of the problems posed by the designers) will be assessed through direct observation with a yes / no evaluation of the acceptance to use the virtual environment, to test the environment, to make choices during the scenario and to control the environment.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Toulouse

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Nontechnical Skills Assessment of Emergency Physicians and Quality of Care in a Virtual Emergency Department

Acronym: 3D-QUAMU

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2020
First posted
Mar 27, 2018
Registry last updated
Feb 3, 2022

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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