PG54 Time critical telephone conversations in the emergency department – a pilot educational project to improve communication skills over the telephone in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic

ABSTRACT

IntroductionThe global Pandemic of COVID-19 has seen many challenges world-wide in health care. Due to restrictions of visitors to many United Kingdom hospitals, this has led to bad-news conversations having to occur by telephone. These conversations include everything from telling a relative that their loved one has died through to discussing do – not resuscitate decisions. Through an anonymous training needs analysis of the health care professionals within our Emergency Department (ED), we discovered that communicating bad news over the telephone was something people wanted further training on.MethodsA training needs analysis identified the need for training. A blended learning package was created. This consisted of a 15-minute eLearning session and a 1-hour facilitated role-play session, with an accompanying facilitator pack suitable for staff who were novice educators but experienced in breaking bad news as clinicians. The role-play session used professional actors as the relative, who were also trained in giving feedback. 2 learners made phone calls and up to 8 observers actively participated via a facilitated discussion. Immediate and delayed feedback were obtained.Results61 people were involved in this pilot educational project from May to June 2020. 23 people participated as the call maker and the remainder as observers. All participants reported that their confidence and knowledge had increased. The feedback given from the actor was useful for development. Inexperienced staff were able to learn from more experienced staff.Discussion and ConclusionsBreaking bad news is challenging, but not being able to do it person probably adds an increased level of difficulty. This pilot project has found these simulated calls a really valuable learning experience, for both observers and call makers. We are hoping to role this training out to senior doctors and nurse across our emergency department. With their evaluation helping to develop further scenarios.This short educational package was found to be a useful learning tool in delivering bad news over the telephone. Further work is needed to explore the clinical effectiveness of this project.