Innovation in Patient Safety Education for Learning Communities: A Scavenger Hunt Approach

Title: Innovation in Patient Safety Education for Learning Communities

Authors: Eyrica S. Sumida B.S, Melanie H. Teruya B.A, Vanessa S. Wong M.D, Kyra A. Len M.D, Travis S. Hong M.D

Context:
In Fall 2020, the John A. Burns School of Medicine implemented a Learning Community (LC) program to enhance the existing curriculum. One of the primary objectives of LC is to help learners understand health systems science, with a focus on identifying barriers to high-quality care and patient safety.

Objectives:
The primary objective of this scavenger hunt is to increase students’ confidence in identifying patient safety hazards in a hospital setting through a small group activity and discussion. A secondary objective is to determine the efficacy of this type of simulated learning environment for fourth year medical students.

Description of Innovation:
In 2022 and 2023, fourth year medical students participated in a patient safety scavenger hunt with their LC groups. Students were tasked with identifying as many patient safety hazards as possible in both an adult and pediatric hospital room setting, within a set time interval. Led by their faculty mentor, students debriefed and, using a QR code, accessed brief teaching points that further described specific safety hazards. At the completion of the activity, students completed a post-survey.

Evaluation of Innovation:
A post-program survey determined that 93.8% of 65 students in the 2022 cohort and 87.5% of 40 students in the 2023 cohort agreed that the program helped them identify patient safety errors in a hospital setting. Students also showed statistically significant increases in confidence in their abilities to identify various patient safety hazards, strategies to improve patient safety, and indications for infection precautions, as well as to recognize risk factors for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), falls, restraints, decubitus ulcers, medication errors, skin breakdown, and errors during a code.

Discussion/Key Message:
The patient safety scavenger hunt successfully helped 4th year students increase their confidence in identifying patient safety hazards as well as strategies to improve patient safety. Utilizing a simulation activity with faculty-led discussion allowed them to share ideas and discuss how to improve the performance of our healthcare system at a larger level. An early emphasis on recognizing these hazards promotes student awareness before entering residency. For future sessions, we recommend extended discussions on necessary steps after recognition of these safety hazards while placing increased emphasis on how interdisciplinary teams can approach patient safety.

Target Audience:
Target audience includes medical students who are in the clinical phase of their education and other learning community mentors. Developing confidence in identifying, discussing, and even remediating patient safety hazards is important for students about to enter residency programs where they will be expected to manage patient care and safety. Learning community mentors at JABSOM and other institutions can also use an activity like this to incorporate patient safety into their curriculum as well.