Our results suggest that training healthcare teams to use read-back techniques could increase information transfer between team members with the potential for improved patient safety. More work is needed to confirm these findings.

The psychological impact (second victim effect) of in-theatre critical incidents is increasingly recognised. Different styles of psychological support programme have recently been published, including some utilising ‘near in time’ peer support. Most of these programmes either target their support to individuals, or focus on one vocational group rather than the multidisciplinary team. However, the in-theatre team consists of different craft groups who nonetheless function as a single team and are therefore ‘peers’. This paper sets out the design and implementation of a critical incident peer response programme at Waikato Hospital, New Zealand, which provides peer-led group psychological first aid to full theatre teams. The programme is administered by trained representatives from multiple in-theatre craft groups including nurses, midwives, anaesthetic technicians, recovery room nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists. It emphasises team education and peer support, and has a wholly welfare focus. The programme has voluntary participation but mandatory activation triggers so that individuals do not need to seek support actively at a time when they may not recognise the need to do so. The programme is becoming embedded in the Waikato Hospital theatre culture so that participating in psychological support is normalised following a critical event. This framework is shared in the hope that it will assist other hospitals to develop welfare interventions to support full theatre teams.

When evaluating assessments, the impact on learning is often overlooked. Approaches to learning can be deep, surface and strategic. To provide insights into exam quality, we investigated the learning approaches taken by trainees preparing for the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Final Exam. The revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) was modified and validated for this context and was administered to ANZCA advanced trainees. Additional questions were asked about perceived value for anaesthetic practice, study time and approaches to learning for each exam component. Overall, 236 of 690 trainees responded (34%). Responses indicated both deep and surface approaches to learning with a clear preponderance of deep approaches. The anaesthetic viva was valued most highly and the multiple choice question component the least. Despite this, respondents spent the most time studying for the multiple choice questions. The traditionally low short answer questions pass rate could not be explained by limited study time, perceived lack of value or study approaches. Written responses suggested that preparation for multiple choice questions was characterised by a surface approach, with rote memorisation of past questions. Minimal reference was made to the ANZCA syllabus as a guide for learning. These findings indicate that, although trainees found the exam generally relevant to practice and adopted predominantly deep learning approaches, there was considerable variation between the four components. These results provide data with which to review the existing ANZCA Final Exam and comparative data for future studies of the revisions to the ANZCA curriculum and exam process.