Background:Clinicians are key drivers for improving health care quality and safety.
However, some may lack experience in quality improvement and patient safety
(QI/PS) methodologies, including root cause analysis (RCA).Objective:The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sought to develop a simulation
approach to teach clinicians from the VA’s Chief Resident in Quality and
Safety program about RCA. We report the use of experiential learning to
teach RCA, and clinicians’ preparedness to conduct and teach RCA
post-training. We provide curriculum details and materials to be adapted for
widespread use.Methods:The course was designed to meet the learning objectives through simulation.
We developed course materials, including presentations, a role-playing case,
and an elaborate RCA case. Learning objectives included (1) basic structure
of RCA, (2) process flow diagramming, (3) collecting information for RCA,
(4) cause and effect diagramming, and (5) identifying actions and outcomes.
We administered a voluntary, web-based survey in November 2016 to
participants (N = 114) post-training to assess their competency with
RCA.Results:A total of 93 individuals completed the survey of the 114 invited to
participate, culminating an 82% response rate. Nearly all respondents (99%,
N = 92) reported feeling at least moderately to extremely prepared to
conduct and teach RCA post-training. Most respondents reported feeling very
to extremely prepared to conduct and teach RCA (77%, N = 72).Conclusions:Experiential learning involving simulations may be effective to improve
clinicians’ competency in QI/PS practices, including RCA. Further research
is warranted to understand how the training affects clinicians’ capacity to
participate in real RCA teams post-training, as well as applicability to
other disciplines and interdisciplinary teams.