Interprofessional Communication and Collaboration During Emergent Birth Center Transfers: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract

Introduction Midwifery care in the birth center setting has proven to be a safe and ideal option for some low‐risk women. Although rare, perinatal complications that require emergent transfer to a higher level of care can occur in community birth settings. Optimal perinatal outcomes during emergent transfers depend on excellent interprofessional communication and collaboration. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement interprofessional emergent birth center transfer mock drills in order to improve communication and collaboration among birth center midwives, local paramedics, and receiving hospital staff during emergent birth center transfers. Process Birth center midwives and hospital staff provided education sessions on perinatal emergencies and the scope of practice for midwives for local paramedics. Paramedics’ knowledge level was assessed with pretests and posttests, before and after the education sessions, respectively. An interprofessional, collaborative mock drill was then organized and included birth center, paramedic, and hospital staff. All participants received a questionnaire after the drill. Outcomes Mean test scores after paramedic education sessions increased by 43.5% (n = 95, P <.001). The Likert‐type scale questionnaire given to mock drill participants after drill completion revealed that 97% indicated probable support for the sustainability of future mock drills in the birth center setting (n = 10). Discussion Health care providers can help improve perinatal outcomes during emergent transfers from the community setting by having clearly outlined guidelines and procedures and communicating efficiently with interprofessional members of the health care team. Both interprofessional education sessions and collaborative mock drills are effective methods to increase knowledge of perinatal emergencies, thus improving interprofessional communication and collaboration during emergent birth center transfers.

Strengthening Interprofessional Collaboration to Improve Transfers Between a Freestanding Birth Center and an Academic Medical Center

“…Integrated birth centers transfer patients for hospital care when indicated, which reserves inpatient beds for higher‐risk patients, 26 allows hospital‐based learners access to a population of individuals who need intervention, and offers midwifery and medical students unique exposure to personalized prenatal care and physiologic birth within the birth center. Effective interprofessional relationships require nurturing, ongoing education, and quality improvement efforts 27,28 . This article presents lessons learned from the ongoing collaboration between birth center and hospital health care providers, including strategies to improve transfer processes and optimize interprofessional communication and collaboration.…”

“…Effective interprofessional relationships require nurturing, ongoing education, and quality improvement efforts. 27,28 This article presents lessons learned from the ongoing collaboration between birth center and hospital health care providers, including strategies to improve transfer processes and optimize interprofessional communication and collaboration.…”

Simülatör Kullanımının Paramedik Öğrencilerinin İleri Yaşam Desteği ve Doğum Yardımı Yeterlikleri ile Özgüven Durumları Üzerine Etkisinin İncelenmesi

“…While performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with adequate airway management and defibrillation, and assistance in emergency labor are medical responsibilities of paramedics (Çelikli, 2016), these topics have been reported to be among the least frequently performed interventions in education (Freitas, Quirino, Giesta & Pinheiro, 2020;Gürbüz, Yetiş & Çırak, 2019;Yıldırım, 2017). By this point, usage of vocational skill laboratories and simulation of pre-hospital emergency events are suggested to increase the professional self-competence of the students (Mercan, 2017;Olvera, Smith, Prater & Hastings-Tolsma, 2020;D. Yıldırım et al, 2014).…”

“…Yıldırım et al, 2014). Hence, simulation training comes to the fore as an important method in developing adequate training programs on CPR and emergency labor (Freitas et al, 2020;McLelland et al, 2017;Olvera et al, 2020;Yağcan & Sezer, 2019).…”

Interprofessional communication in emergencies during a pandemic

“…‘The right message, at the right time from the right person can save lives’, (Eldridge et al, 2020, p. 50). In some situations, communication can be the difference between life and death (Eldridge et al, 2020; Olvera et al, 2020; Rodrigues et al, 2020). Healthcare emergencies are just one of those types of situations that rely heavily on good communication to protect everyone involved (Olvera et al, 2020; Rodrigues et al, 2020).…”