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Pressroom:
Sala de noticias
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2 de noviembre de 2003
For Futher Information:
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El Children's Hospital Boston entrena a médicos clínicos para dar malas noticias
Critical Care Team practices Communication Skills through Simulation Program
NEW ORLEANS - Physicians, nurses and allied health professionals in the critical care setting are often called upon to communicate difficult news to patients and their families and to provide support through unfortunate times. However, formal training in this type of communication is often lacking.

To address the need for more experience at practicing this type of communication, members of the Critical Care Team at Children's Hospital Boston created the Program to Enhance Relational and Communication Skills (PERCS). The program offers trainees a full-day opportunity to learn and practice delivering difficult information with specially trained actors who portray patients and family members in critical care scenarios. The initial results of this pilot training program will be presented at poster session at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference, Nov. 1-5 in New Orleans.

Upon completing the program, trainees, who represented a wide range of disciplines and experience levels, reported an improved sense of preparation and confidence when engaging in such difficult conversations, better communication skills, and greater ability to develop and maintain relationships with patients and families.

''The PERCS program offers participants the time to reflect upon and enhance their own ''relational'' style with patients in a thoughtful way,'' said Elaine C. Meyer, PhD, director of the PERCS program and assistant professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. ''Communicating with families, especially about difficult issues, is a lifelong learning process. It's important for all caregivers throughout their training to step back and look at ways to improve communication.''
The simulated case scenarios, one of a 5-year-old near-drowning victim and a 17-year-old whose cancer had recurred, take place in a simulation suite equipped with unobtrusive ceiling mounted cameras. The sessions are simultaneously shown in real time to facilitators and other trainees who comprised the ''learning team.'' This allows more trainees to observe the patient/caregiver interaction. Debriefing, videotape review and discussion with the team and actors provide many opportunities for constructive feedback, compelling learning, self-discovery and reflection.

During the first six months of the program, 40 individuals (18 physicians/physician trainees, 15 nurses, and 7 psychosocial workers) participated in the training. Two thirds of the participants reported having had some previous training to prepare them for difficult conversations. All participants reported that they would recommend PERCS training to their colleagues.

Eric Fleegler, MD, a PERCS participant, who had a real life difficult situation in the Emergency Department shortly after completing the program, offered the following comment, ''I had a patient who was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to sit down with the family to begin to walk with them through the process of understanding what was happening with their child. The feedback and discussion that day was quite useful.''

The Children's team that developed PERCS includes: Robert C. Pascucci, MD; Elaine C. Meyer, PhD, RN; Jeffrey P. Burns, MD, MPH; Gerald P. Koocher, PhD; Margaret Comeau; David Browning, MSW; and Robert D. Truog, MD.

Funding for the program's development was provided by the Argosy Foundation.
Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults for more than 130 years. More than 500 scientists, including seven members of the National Academy of Sciences, nine members of the Institute of Medicine and nine members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 300-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. It is also the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org.

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