Introduction:Although simulation training has been utilized quite extensively in highincome medical environments, its feasibility and effect on team performance in lowresource pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) environments has not been demonstrated. We hypothesized that lowfidelity simulationbased crisis resource management training would lead to improvements in team performance in such settings.Methods:In this prospective observational study, the effect of simulation on team dynamics and performance was assessed in 23 healthcare providers in a pediatric CICU in Southeast Asia. A 5day training program was utilized consisting of various didactic sessions and simulation training exercises. Improvements in team dynamics were assessed using participant questionnaires, expert evaluations, and video analysis of time to intervention and frequency of closedloop communication.Results:In subjective questionnaires, participants noted significant (P < 0.05) improvement in team dynamics and performance over the training period. Video analysis revealed a decrease in time to intervention and significant (P < 0.05) increase in frequency of closedloop communication because of simulation training.Conclusions:This study demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of simulationbased training in improving team dynamics and performance in lowresource pediatric CICU environments, indicating its potential role in eliminating communication barriers in these settings.

Background: There is limited data describing the characteristics of paediatric post-operative cardiac surgery patients who develop pneumothoraces after chest tube removal. Patient management after chest tube removal is not standardised across paediatric cardiac surgery programmes. The purposes of this study were to describe the frequency of pneumothorax after chest tube removal in paediatric post-operative cardiac surgical patients and to describe the patient and clinical characteristics of those patients who developed a clinically significant pneumothorax requiring intervention. Methods: A single-institution retrospective descriptive study (1 January, 2010–31 December, 2018) was utilised to review 11,651 paediatric post-operative cardiac surgical patients from newborn to 18 years old. Results: Twenty-five patients were diagnosed with a pneumothorax by chest radiograph following chest tube removal (0.2%). Of these 25 patients, 15 (1.6%) had a clinically significant pneumothorax and 8 (53%) did not demonstrate a change in baseline clinical status or require an increase in supplemental oxygen, 14 (93%) required an intervention, 9 (60%) were <1 year of age, 4 (27%) had single-ventricle physiology, and 5 (33%) had other non-cardiac anomalies/genetic syndromes. Conclusions: In our cohort of patients, we confirmed the incidence of pneumothorax after chest tube removal is low in paediatric post-operative cardiac surgery patients. This population does not always exhibit changes in clinical status despite having clinically significant pneumothoraces. We suggest the development of criteria, based on clinical characteristics, for patients who are at increased risk of developing a pneumothorax and would require a routine chest radiograph following chest tube removal.

No abstract

Background The Complexity Assessment and Monitoring to Ensure Optimal Outcomes (CAMEO II) acuity tool was developed to quantify patient acuity in terms of nursing cognitive workload complexity in a large, freestanding children's hospital in the United States. Objectives To describe the acuity and complexity of pediatric critical care nursing at a large children's hospital and correlate the CAMEO II with pediatric physiologic measures. Methods Construct validation was conducted correlating the CAMEO II to a pediatric classification system and 2 physiologic acuity tools. Descriptive statistics summarized patient characteristics. Construct validity across tools was evaluated using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Results CAMEO II was described both continuously and as ordinal complexity levels (I-V). Among 235 patients who completed CAMEO II across 4 intensive care units (ICUs), the mean total score was 99.06 (median, 97; range, 59-204). The CAMEO II complexity classification for 235 patients was as follows: I: 22 (9.4%), II: 53 (22.6%), III: 56 (23.8%), IV: 66 (28.1%), and V: 38 (16.2%). Findings from the 235 patients across the 4 ICUs revealed a significant correlation between the CAMEO II and the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System–Children (ρ = 0.567, P < .001), CAMEO II and Pediatric Risk of Mortality III (ρ = 0.446, P < .001), and the CAMEO II and Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology Perinatal Extension II (ρ = 0.359, P = .013). Discussion Utilization of CAMEO II across ICUs provides an opportunity to validate the current complexity of pediatric critical care nursing in a large children's hospital.