Introduction: Healthcare simulation has evolved to support interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) to enhance teamwork and communication. In 2010, the World Health Organization published the Framework for Action on IPE, and the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative established domains for IPE competencies. As part of a comprehensive response to improve emergency preparedness for mass casualty events, Changi General Hospital (CGH) developed a trauma simulation training program built upon these frameworks. The training program has been continually revamped, most significantly in 2017 with the introduction of a new surge protocol for managing smaller-scale emergencies involving fewer than 20 critical casualties. Methods: The IPE-based trauma simulation training aimed to build collaborative competencies across healthcare teams comprising medical and nursing staff from Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and Anesthesiology specialties. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS, Revised 2018) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. ICCAS is a validated tool that measures improvements across the key domains via a retrospective self-reported pre- and post-course survey design. Results: The ICCAS results revealed substantial improvements in all of the domains of interprofessional collaboration: • Communication: A 25.1% increase in clarity and role-based communication across healthcare teams. • Collaboration and Team Functioning: A 26.6% improvement in joint decision-making during triage and resource allocation, promoting smoother teamwork and better patient outcomes. • Roles and Responsibilities: A 24.5% enhancement in participants’ understanding of their roles and those of their colleagues, leading to more efficient teamwork. • Conflict Resolution and Patient-Centered Care: A 24.2% improvement in managing conflicts under stress, optimizing team dynamics, and enhancing patient care. Conclusion: The results of the ICCAS have affirmed the effectiveness of integrating IPE frameworks into trauma simulation training. Continued training and feedback will further sustain these gains and strengthen interprofessional collaborative practice in CGH’s emergency preparedness.
Chan et al. (Sun,) studied this question.