GESCHN Paediatric Team Training
The Greater Eastern, Southern and Illawarra Child Health Network (GESCHN), Sydney Childrens' Hospital and the Sydney Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre (SCSSC) have been in partnership since 2006 to maximise access to paediatric simulation training, for frontline clinical staff who manage children in public hospitals across the GESCHN network in NSW. The program is multifaceted and its impact has spread to spawn the paediatric training program conducted through the Support Scheme for Rural Specialists (SSRS) and the partnership between GESCHN and ITIM in the creation of the Paediatric Trauma Team Course.
In addition to support from the CHN grant scheme, the program would not have been possible without ongoing support from the GESCHN executive team; the Sydney Childrens' Hospital executive and emergency clinicians; and the generous donation of simulators and specialised paediatric equipment by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, the Fairbridge Foundation and Mrs Katrina Leslie.
The program has been delivered by experienced paediatric clinicians from Sydney Childrens' Hospital, Westmead Childrens' Hospital, North Shore Hospital and regional NSW, and has benefited in particular as a result of the experience and commitment of paediatric emergency clinicians Richard Lennon (RNSH), Matthew O’Meara (SCH), Jane Chicero (SCH), Ella Scott, Fenton O’Leary (CHW) and Marino Festa (CHW).
The project has also expanded in this round to include advanced communication training.
The simulation team have also gone on the road and taken the program to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and Sydney Children's Hospital with more destinations planned in the coming year. This enables us to reach a larger audience, and target those who need the training but are often too busy to leave the rural area that they work in. Along with the mobile simulation courses we are also taking accredited Paediatric Life Support classes to destinations such as Goulburn Base Hospital, Sutherland Hospital and Wagga Wagga Base Hospital in the coming future.
Major activities
The GESCHN Paediatric Team Training Course is a one-day, multiprofessional, multidisciplinary simulation-based course that addresses teamwork skills and clinical practice relevant to trauma management.
The GESCHN Paediatric Trauma Team Course integrates the GESCHN paediatric team training course and the ITIM Trauma Team Training course.
The Advanced Communications Course is a one day course addressing key topics relevant to communication with colleagues, patients and families including with topics including team-leader communication strategies; graded assertiveness; negotiation and conflict management; debriefing teams; breaking bad news; and open disclosure. The SCSSC works in partnership with the Pam M'Lean Communications training centre to deliver this course.
The Paediatric Modular Mobile Simulation Program consists of a suite of three half-day training courses that is delivered in-situ (on the ward) or educational facilities in a range of hospitals.
The Mentoring Program was piloted in 2008 to enhance the confidence and capacity of SCH and a regional centre (Wagga) to deliver simulation-based education. The key outcomes of this pilot were (1) a resource kit for instructors (2) an equipment inventory and (3) piloting and evaluation of modular learning sessions.
