Clinical Staff Practice Lifesaving Care in SIM Center

Positive outcomes for patients as well as teamwork are closely linked at GBMC and are lived out in big and small ways.

In February, in an already busy Intensive Care Unit with critical response needs coming in quick succession, a man was rushed in under a rapid response call. Director of the Medical and Surgical ICUs, Dr. David Vitberg and four nurses quickly got to work. With swift and deliberate movements and confidence in the task at hand, all members of the team worked together to perform a transvenous pacer insertion.

Five minutes later, the patient was stabilized; his life saved.

Lives are often saved in the ICU, but this case was particularly noteworthy because a multidisciplinary team had recently practiced the exact procedure in GBMC’s Simulation Innovation Learning Center.

“Our state-of-the-art Simulation Center allows ICU staff to receive training on lifesaving procedures in a controlled environment. Because of this, our staff can quickly jump into action at the patient’s bedside and perform these procedures with confidence as a team,” Rachel Ridgley, MSN, RN, CCRN, ICU Nurse Manager, said.

GBMC prioritizes continuous learning and has processes in place to ensure important clinical and communication skills are practiced often. The Simulation Center has provided training services since 2012.

Nurses, physicians, and other clinical staff regularly practice skills and procedures within their own disciplines. In the last year, the ICU staff has also been practicing high acuity, low volume procedures as a multidisciplinary group. This collaborative training lays the groundwork for successful patient outcomes.

“It was important for us to practice this together instead of separately,” Ridgely said. “The teamwork we were able to establish through having these multidisciplinary SIMs was especially helpful to bring us together, understand the other members’ roles and responsibilities, and how that impacts our own roles.”

Prior to the transvenous pacer insertion training, Nurse Education Specialist for Critical Care, Chelsea Woodell, MSN, APRN-CNS, ACCNS-AG, CCRN-K, produced a step-by-step checklist for when the team performs the procedure. Packaged with all the necessary instruments, this standard work also proved invaluable.

This one small example had a big impact, especially for the man whose life was saved. Treating everyone the way we would our own loved ones starts with working together to deliver the best care possible.