Leadership Training in Health Care Action Teams

Abstract

Leadership training targeting HCA teams has become more prevalent. Determining best practices in leadership training is confounded by variability in leadership definitions, absence of supporting frameworks, and a paucity of robust assessments.

Communication and leadership in emergency situations: Systematic literature review and recommendations for practice

“…[9,28] For this reason, teams must be continuously prepared [28] and able to rely on effective leadership and communication. [5][6][7][8]26] However, there is often a lack of leadership education and training. [14,15] Both teams and leaders need continuous education and training in order to gain proficiency and scientific knowledge, as well as technical, relational, and ethical skills.…”

“…[6] Leaders who have more than three years of experience are more effective leaders than those who have only one year of experience, and the vast majority of resident physicians (who are less experienced) feel inadequately trained to lead a team in an emergency situation. [25] Leaders should also be chosen based on characteristics such as humility and the ability to share successes, [14] assume responsibility, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and solve conflicts through negotiation, both within the team and with patients and/or family. [15][16][17] The leadership strategy should be adjusted according to the situation, which may require a more "autocratic" or "participative" leadership.…”

“…[3] Effective communication and leadership are key components in health care quality, particularly when a team needs to provide a timely and organized response in emergency situations. [4] Effective leadership is associated with improved teamwork outcomes in emergency situations [5][6][7] and improved staff engagement. [8] Emergency situations are often characterized by high complexity, uncertainty, chaos, and ambiguity, [9] thus requiring a coordinated and synchronized collective action.…”

“…[8] Emergency situations are often characterized by high complexity, uncertainty, chaos, and ambiguity, [9] thus requiring a coordinated and synchronized collective action. [4,7] Health professionals' training should include the development of teamwork skills and assign equal importance to the acquisition of knowledge (know-how), relational/ethical skills, and technical skills. [4,10] Several communication strategies have been used in different areas and contexts.…”

Assessing Team Leadership in Emergency Medicine: The Milestones and Beyond

“…12 While the number of studies describing efforts in team leadership training and assessment has risen exponentially over the past decade, the best mechanisms for effectively training and assessing team leadership within EM remain elusive. 13,14 This knowledge gap leaves EM residency programs to approach this task in isolation, resulting in a wide variation in how team leadership is defined, trained, and assessed. The objective of this review article is to (1) synthesize the team science literature and translate important concepts and models to health care team leadership; (2) describe how team leadership is currently assessed within the health care literature and in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones for EM; and (3) propose a novel, evidence-based framework for team leadership assessment in EM.…”