Strategies for improving quality and safety in global health:Lessons from nontechnical skills for surgery implementation in rwanda

The Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS) framework is a taxonomy of cognitive and social skills that foster expertise and medical knowledge in the operating room. This framework can be used as a method to improve the quality of surgical care in global efforts to improve access to affordable surgery

Epidemiology of injuries and outcomes among trauma patients receiving prehospital care at a tertiary teaching hospital in Kigali, Rwanda

Introduction: Injury accounts for 9.6% of the global mortality burden, disproportionately affecting those living in low- and middle-income countries. In an effort to improve trauma care in Rwanda, the Ministry of Health developed a prehospital service, Service d’Aide Médicale Urgente (SAMU), and established an emergency medicine training program. However, little is known about patients receiving prehospital and emergency trauma care or their outcomes. The objective was to develop a linked prehospital–hospital database to evaluate patient characteristics, mechanisms of injury, prehospital and hospital resource use, and outcomes among injured patients receiving acute care in Kigali, Rwanda. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at University Teaching Hospital – Kigali, the primary trauma centre in Rwanda. Data was included on all injured patients transported by SAMU from December 2012 to February 2015. SAMU’s prehospital database was linked to hospital records and data were collected using standardised protocols by trained abstractors. Demographic information, injury characteristics, acute care, hospital course and outcomes were included. Results: 1668 patients were transported for traumatic injury during the study period. The majority (77.7%) of patients were male. The median age was 30 years. Motor vehicle collisions accounted for 75.0% of encounters of which 61.4% involved motorcycles. 48.8% of patients sustained injuries in two or more anatomical regions. 40.1% of patients were admitted to the hospital and 78.1% required surgery. The overall mortality rate was 5.5% with nearly half of hospital deaths occurring in the emergency centre. Conclusion: A linked prehospital and hospital database provided critical epidemiological information describing trauma patients in a low-resource setting. Blunt trauma from motor vehicle collisions involving young males constituted the majority of traumatic injury. Among this cohort, hospital resource utilisation was high as was mortality. This data can help guide the implementation of interventions to improve trauma care in the Rwandan setting

Learning NOTSS While Tying Knots: Integrating the Nontechnical Skills for Surgeons Course With Technical Surgical Skills Training, A Mixed Methods Study

Objective:. The aims of this study were to describe the process of integrating 2 established training programs, Nontechnical skills for surgeons, and a traditional essential surgical skills course and to measure the impact of this integrated course on the behaviors of interprofessional surgical teams in Rwandan district hospitals. Background:. Surgical errors and resulting adverse events are due to variability in both technical and nontechnical surgical skills. Providing technical and nontechnical skills training to the perioperative team may enhance the learning of both of these skills and promote safe intraoperative patient care. Methods:. A quality improvement framework guided the process of integrating essential surgical skills and nontechnical skills into a single training program for surgical teams. The resulting 2-day training program was delivered to 68-person teams from 17 hospitals. Nontechnical skills for surgeons was taught through didactics and in the operating room, where preoperative briefing, intraoperative interactions, and postoperative debriefing were used as essential and nontechnical skills teaching moments. Postcourse surveys, follow-up interviews, focus groups, and direct observation of participants in the operating room were conducted to assess how participants implemented the knowledge and skills from the training into practice. Results:. Ninety-seven percent of the participants reported that they were satisfied with the course. Follow-up participant interviews and focus groups reported that the course helped them to improve their preoperative planning, intraoperative communication, decision-making, and postoperative debriefing. Conclusions:. It is possible to implement an integrated essential surgical skills and nontechnical skills training course. Integrating nontechnical skills into essential surgical skills courses may enhance learning of these skills