TeamSTEPPS® : An evidence-based approach to reduce clinical errors threatening safety in outpatient settings: An integrative review

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this integrative review of literature was to investigate and evaluate feasibility and potential for success of TeamSTEPPS^® implementation, the influence of TeamSTEPPS for Office-Based Care on the clinical error rate in a private outpatient clinic, and influence of TeamSTEPPS for Office-Based Care on patient satisfaction.

Background: Patient safety remains a top priority for all health care providers in all clinical settings. Despite multiple varied efforts, clinical errors directly attributed to communication are consistently at the top of the list of root causes, although improvement strategies such as Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) have been implemented, there is insufficient data reported measuring the influence of this intervention on patient safety, clinical errors related to communication, and patient satisfaction.

Search strategy: A systematic search of the electronic databases MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL Complete, Embase, and Science Direct was conducted to seek literature that reported the effectiveness of the TeamSTEPPS tool to reduce clinical errors, improve communication, and increase patient satisfaction. Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria. Levels of evidence for each study was determined using the 2009 American Association of Critical Care Nursing (AACN) levels.

Conclusions: The present review is consistent with marked improvement in communication, decrease in clinical error rates, and improvement in patient satisfaction. There is a significant need for evaluation of the impact of this validated toolkit from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to maintain a sustainable health care environment for all stakeholders. As a result of this integrative review, a quality improvement project related to both the primary and secondary end points is in progress.