RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 EM Talk: communication skills training for emergency medicine patients with serious illness
JF BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
JO BMJ Support Palliat Care
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP 219
OP 224
DO 10.1136/bmjspcare-2015-000993
VO 6
IS 2
A1 Grudzen, Corita R
A1 Emlet, Lillian L
A1 Kuntz, Joanne
A1 Shreves, Ashley
A1 Zimny, Erin
A1 Gang, Maureen
A1 Schaulis, Monique
A1 Schmidt, Scott
A1 Isaacs, Eric
A1 Arnold, Robert
YR 2016
UL http://spcare.bmj.com/content/6/2/219.abstract
AB The emergency department visit for a patient with serious illness represents a sentinel event, signalling a change in the illness trajectory. By better understanding patient and family wishes, emergency physicians can reinforce advance care plans and ensure the hospital care provided matches the patient's values. Despite their importance in care at the end of life, emergency physicians have received little training on how to talk to seriously ill patients and their families about goals of care. To expand communication skills training to emergency medicine, we developed a programme to give emergency medicine physicians the ability to empathically deliver serious news and to talk about goals of care. We have built on lessons from prior studies to design an intervention employing the most effective pedagogical techniques, including the use of simulated patients/families, role-playing and small group learning with constructive feedback from master clinicians. Here, we describe our evidence-based communication skills training course EM Talk using simulation, reflective feedback and deliberate practice.