Team Training and Medication Administration in an Ambulance Service

NCT ID: NCT05244928

Last Updated: 2025-10-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 131 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-01-24
• Study Completion Date: 2024-01-31

Brief Summary

Medication administration events have the potential to cause patient harm. Frequency of medication administration events in the ambulance services is less known. Effective teamwork has been described as paramount for providing safe and effective patient care in the high-risk ambulance environment. "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" is an evidence-based team training program released from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The aims of the study are: (1) to advance the knowledge of medication administration process in the ambulance services, and (2) to study the impact of a team training program on medication administration events, teamwork, and patient safety culture.

To address the overall aims, the following research objectives will guide the study:

Pre-study: To analyse and validate the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Teamwork Perception Questionnaire for use in an ambulance service.

Studies:

1. To determine the frequency of medication administration events in an ambulance service.

2. To describe the medication administration process in an ambulance service according to the "Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model".

3. To identify the impact of a team training program on the frequency of medication administration events in an ambulance service.

4. To explore ambulance professionals' experiences of teamwork before and after the implementation of a team training program and their experiences with the program.

5. To compare ambulance professionals' perceptions of teamwork and patient safety culture before and after implementation of a team training program.

Post-study: To study the association between medication administration events and team training and patient safety culture in an ambulance service.

A quasi-experimental, pre- and post-design, provides the framework for the intervention of the team training program in two clusters including seven ambulance stations, in total.

Conditions

Patient Safety; Medication Administration

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Cluster 1.

The clusters will be formed from two ambulance stations (Approximately 50 participants).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

The team training program "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®"

Intervention Type: OTHER

"Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" is a team training program consisting of an evidence-based set of tools designed to develop teamwork skills with the goal of improving quality in healthcare services and providing safer patient care. In this study, selected tools from the "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" curriculum have been chosen for implementation over a 4-month period together with a general emphasis on the key principles: communication, leadership, situation monitoring and mutual support. A full day introduction will be held to mark the start of the intervention and each successive month will have a focus on a single key principle with associated tools.

A quasi-experimental, pre- post design, provides the framework for the intervention of the team training program in two clusters including seven ambulance stations, in total.

Cluster 2.

The clusters will be formed from five ambulance stations (Approximately 70 participants).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

The team training program "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®"

Intervention Type: OTHER

"Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" is a team training program consisting of an evidence-based set of tools designed to develop teamwork skills with the goal of improving quality in healthcare services and providing safer patient care. In this study, selected tools from the "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" curriculum have been chosen for implementation over a 4-month period together with a general emphasis on the key principles: communication, leadership, situation monitoring and mutual support. A full day introduction will be held to mark the start of the intervention and each successive month will have a focus on a single key principle with associated tools.

A quasi-experimental, pre- post design, provides the framework for the intervention of the team training program in two clusters including seven ambulance stations, in total.

Interventions

The team training program "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®"

"Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" is a team training program consisting of an evidence-based set of tools designed to develop teamwork skills with the goal of improving quality in healthcare services and providing safer patient care. In this study, selected tools from the "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" curriculum have been chosen for implementation over a 4-month period together with a general emphasis on the key principles: communication, leadership, situation monitoring and mutual support. A full day introduction will be held to mark the start of the intervention and each successive month will have a focus on a single key principle with associated tools.

A quasi-experimental, pre- post design, provides the framework for the intervention of the team training program in two clusters including seven ambulance stations, in total.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Ambulance professionals employed in the ambulance services

• EPJs for patients who are transported or treated within the assigned areas
• Patient which receives medication (Oxygen, or clear fluid intravenously, by inhalation, intramuscularly, intraosseous, per os, sublingually, or intranasally)

• Ambulance professionals employed in the ambulance services

• Ambulance professionals and apprentices participating in the "Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety®" intervention

Exclusion Criteria

• Under 18 years of age

• Missing and/or incomplete data.

• Under 18 years of age
• Student and apprentices

• Ambulance professionals on long-term leave
• Under 18 years of age

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Sykehuset Innlandet HF

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Ingeborg Hartz, PhD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Sykehuset Innlandet HF

Locations

Innlandet Hospital Trust

Brumunddal, , Norway

Countries

Norway

References

Myhr K, Ballangrud R, Aase K, Vifladt A. Ambulance professionals' experiences of teamwork in the context of a team training programme - a qualitative study. BMC Emerg Med. 2024 Jul 2;24(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s12873-024-01018-6.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 38956498 (View on PubMed)

Vifladt A, Ballangrud R, Myhr K, Grusd E, Porthun J, Maehlum PA, Aase K, Sollid SJM, Odberg KR. Team training program's impact on medication administration, teamwork and patient safety culture in an ambulance service (TEAM-AMB): a longitudinal multimethod study protocol. BMJ Open. 2023 Jan 20;13(1):e067006. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067006.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 36669839 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

16797830

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id