Determination of health-care teamwork training competencies: A Delphi study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum content of a 1-day classroom-based crew resource management (CRM) course for health-care personnel working in ad hoc teams in complex, time-critical hospital departments such as surgery, intensive care or emergency. Design: A two-round modified Delphi panel. Participants selected teamwork competency components suitable for inclusion in 1 day of training from a list developed via literature review. Participants: Fifteen experts in health care, CRM and training. Main Outcome Measure: Knowledge, skill and attitude competency components for a 1-day CRM course. Results: Of the 110 knowledge, skill and attitude CRM competency components, 40 components were selected by greater than 70% of respondents, whereas the remaining 62 components were selected by fewer than 55% of respondents. These 40 competency components ranged across five competency domains: communication, task management, situational awareness, decision-making and leadership, and provided a consensus on the most critical areas for inclusion in training for health-care personnel. Conclusions: This new competency model is now available for use. Although the sample size was limited, a high degree of consensus was reached after only two rounds. A modified Delphi technique within the context of competencies first refined from the literature was a useful and cost-effective method for determining the content of a 1-day CRM training course for health-care workers.