Evaluating the effects of an educational intervention on improving teamwork using the Teamstepps® curriculum

The purpose of this study was to determine if an educational intervention using the TeamSTEPPS curriculum improved nurses’ attitudes toward teamwork, communication, and patient safety. Procedure: Using a quasi-experimental design, nurses (N=69) from six patient care units were randomly assigned by unit to an intervention group or a comparison group. The intervention group participated in a 6-hour workshop on teamwork and communication guided by the TeamSTEPPS curriculum and the comparison group participated in a 6-hour workshop on bullying and incivility guided by the Civility Toolkit from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Data Results: The overall mean scores on the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Attitude Questionnaire (T-TAQ) improved within groups from pre-test (Intervention group M=123.18, SD= 8.85; Comparison group M= 123.67, SD= 8.29) to posttest (Intervention group M= 130.09, SD= 7.91; Comparison group M= 130.25, SD= 8.81) (p <.001). There was no significance (p> .05) found between groups. However, there was no significance (p> .05) found between groups and the 12-week posttest scores were not sustained at the level of the posttest. Conclusion: Educational interventions have the potential to improve nurses’ attitudes toward patient safety although more work needs to be done. Increased focus on the development of educational interventions that will achieve improved teamwork and communication among nurses has the potential to positively influence the safety of patients.