Effects of communication on the performance of nursing students during the simulation of an emergency situation.

AIM To explore how nursing performance is impacted by different forms of team communication including a message transmitted through an earpiece which triggers reflective thinking in the simulation of a deteriorating patient situation. BACKGROUND Communication can either support team performance or produce interruptions potentially leading to error. Today, technology offers the opportunity to use devices that can permit communication. DESIGN An experimental protocol was used with quantitative and qualitative analyses. METHODS Pairs of nursing students (N = 26) were dispatched to either an experimental group having to wear an earpiece priming reflective thinking, or to a control group. The study was conducted between October 2013-April 2014. RESULTS The number of spontaneous information exchanges between pairs of participants was positively correlated with overall performance (actions performed and physician call) and with actions performed at the right moment. The number of questions in the team was positively correlated with overall action performance. No quantitative effect of the earpiece message on the performance indicators was found. But, a qualitative observation showed that this message can allow for error avoidance. Subjective evaluation of the earpiece as an aid was negatively correlated with overall action performance. Its evaluation as a disturbance was also negatively correlated with the measurement of actions performed at the right moment. CONCLUSION The ability to exchange information and to ask questions seems to contribute to performance in care delivery. The use of communication devices to trigger reflective thinking must be studied in more depth to assess their capacity to improve performance.