Tanja Manser

Prior research indicates that constructive controversy, as a method to support decision-making in conflict-prone situations, positively impacts learning. By using a simulation approach applying the practical procedure of constructive controversy, this study explores the relationship between conflict management styles and individual learning in the application of constructive controversies. Our results show a positive effect of constructive controversy on individuals’ learning and indicate that conflict management styles moderate this effect. Participants with high avoidance, low collaboration, and low compromise conflict management styles reported particularly high learning gains from constructive controversy. This is a new insight both for research and practical implementation and bridges the gap to future research applying constructive controversy in organizational settings.

Background: Inadequate collaboration in healthcare can lead to medical errors, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary teamwork training. Virtual reality (VR) simulation-based training presents a promising, cost-effective approach. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM) for assessing healthcare student teams in VR environments to improve training methodologies. Methods: Forty-two medical and nursing students participated in a VR-based neurological emergency scenario as part of an interprofessional team training program. Their performances were assessed using a modified TEAM tool by two trained coders. Reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of the tool were evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Cronbach’s alpha. Results: Rater agreement on TEAM’s leadership, teamwork, and task management domains was high, with ICC values between 0.75 and 0.90. Leadership demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90), while teamwork and task management showed moderate to acceptable consistency (alpha = 0.78 and 0.72, respectively). Overall, the TEAM tool exhibited high internal consistency (alpha = 0.89) and strong concurrent validity with significant correlations to global performance ratings. Conclusion: The TEAM tool proved to be a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating team dynamics in VR-based training scenarios. This study highlights VR’s potential in enhancing medical education, especially in remote or distanced learning contexts. It demonstrates a dependable approach for team performance assessment, adding value to VR-based medical training. These findings pave the way for more effective, accessible interdisciplinary team assessments, contributing significantly to the advancement of medical education.

Background: Promoting the well-being of older adults in an aging society requires new solutions. One resource might be the use of social robots for group activities that promote physical and cognitive stimulation. Engaging in a robot-assisted group activity may help in the slowdown of physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Currently, our knowledge is limited on whether older adults engage in group activities with humanlike social robots and whether they experience a positive affect while doing so. Both are necessary preconditions to achieve the intended effects of a group activity. Objective: Our pilot study has 2 aims. First, we aimed to develop and pilot an observational coding scheme for robot-assisted group activities because self-report data on engagement and mood of nursing home residents are often difficult to obtain, and the existing observation instruments do have limitations. Second, we aimed to investigate older adults’ engagement and mood during robot-assisted group activities in 4 different nursing care homes in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Methods: We developed an observation system, inspired by existing tools, for a structured observation of engagement and mood of older adults during a robot-assisted group activity. In this study, 85 older adult residents from 4 different care homes in Switzerland participated in 5 robot-assisted group activity sessions, and they were observed using our developed system. The data were collected in the form of video clips that were assessed by 2 raters regarding engagement (direction of gaze, posture as well as body expression, and activity) and mood (positive and negative affects). Both variables were rated on a 5-point rating scale. Results: Our pilot study findings show that the engagement and mood of older adults can be assessed reliably by using the proposed observational coding scheme. Most participants actively engaged in robot-assisted group activities (mean 4.19, SD 0.47; median 4.0). The variables used to measure engagement were direction of gaze (mean 4.65, SD 0.49; median 5.0), posture and body expression (mean 4.03, SD 0.71; median 4.0), and activity (mean 3.90, SD 0.65; median 4.0). Further, we observed mainly positive affects in this group. Almost no negative affect was observed (mean 1.13, SD 0.20; median 1.0), while the positive affect (mean 3.22, SD 0.55; median 3.2) was high. Conclusions: The developed observational coding system can be used and further developed in future studies on robot-assisted group activities in the nursing home context and potentially in other settings. Additionally, our pilot study indicates that cognitive and physical stimulation of older adults can be promoted by social robots in a group setting. This finding encourages future technological development and improvement of social robots and points to the potential of observational research to systematically evaluate such developments.

Background: Patient participation is advocated in various healthcare settings. Instruments for assessment and feedback have been developed to strengthen clinician-patient interaction. In an emergency department context, such instruments are still missing. The study aimed to develop and test an observation tool for emergency teams’ behaviour regarding patient involvement and collaboration. Methods: The development of the behavioural observation tool followed a systematic approach. The tool’s content was based on various data sources, i.e., published literature, interview and observational data, and expert consensus. An international expert panel reviewed the content and the rating scale and rated its importance for patient involvement and collaboration in a Delphi process. The feasibility and reliability of the tool were tested by trained observers using video recordings of simulated emergencies. Intraclass correlation (ICC) and Kappa-statistics were performed to test the tool’s inter-rater reliability. Results: The PIC-ET tool, a 22-item observation instrument was developed in which patient involvement and collaboration behaviours are rated from ‘no’ to ‘high’ using behavioural anchors. Expert agreement was obtained after three Delphi rounds on the tool content, the behavioural anchors and its importance for patient involvement and collaboration. The content validity was assessed as high, and the tool was found feasible for research. Overall inter-rater reliability was fair (Kappa 0.52). Conclusions: A novel tool for assessing emergency teams’ behaviour regarding patient involvement and collaboration is introduced. The tool’s psychometric properties were fair to good. Further validation of the PIC-ET tool is recommended for more robust evidence. Future adaptation to different contexts and areas of use, as well as further validity testing may be of value.

BACKGROUND Promoting the well-being of older adults in an aging society requires new solutions. One resource might be the use of social robots for group activities that promote physical and cognitive stimulation. Engaging in a robot-assisted group activity may help in the slowdown of physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Currently, our knowledge is limited on whether older adults engage in group activities with humanlike social robots and whether they experience a positive affect while doing so. Both are necessary preconditions to achieve the intended effects of a group activity. OBJECTIVE Our pilot study has 2 aims. First, we aimed to develop and pilot an observational coding scheme for robot-assisted group activities because self-report data on engagement and mood of nursing home residents are often difficult to obtain, and the existing observation instruments do have limitations. Second, we aimed to investigate older adults’ engagement and mood during robot-assisted group activities in 4 different nursing care homes in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. METHODS We developed an observation system, inspired by existing tools, for a structured observation of engagement and mood of older adults during a robot-assisted group activity. In this study, 85 older adult residents from 4 different care homes in Switzerland participated in 5 robot-assisted group activity sessions, and they were observed using our developed system. The data were collected in the form of video clips that were assessed by 2 raters regarding engagement (direction of gaze, posture as well as body expression, and activity) and mood (positive and negative affects). Both variables were rated on a 5-point rating scale. RESULTS Our pilot study findings show that the engagement and mood of older adults can be assessed reliably by using the proposed observational coding scheme. Most participants actively engaged in robot-assisted group activities (mean 4.19, SD 0.47; median 4.0). The variables used to measure engagement were direction of gaze (mean 4.65, SD 0.49; median 5.0), posture and body expression (mean 4.03, SD 0.71; median 4.0), and activity (mean 3.90, SD 0.65; median 4.0). Further, we observed mainly positive affects in this group. Almost no negative affect was observed (mean 1.13, SD 0.20; median 1.0), while the positive affect (mean 3.22, SD 0.55; median 3.2) was high. CONCLUSIONS The developed observational coding system can be used and further developed in future studies on robot-assisted group activities in the nursing home context and potentially in other settings. Additionally, our pilot study indicates that cognitive and physical stimulation of older adults can be promoted by social robots in a group setting. This finding encourages future technological development and improvement of social robots and points to the potential of observational research to systematically evaluate such developments.

Objectives: Video-assisted debriefing (VAD) of real-life obstetrical emergencies provides an opportunity to improve quality of care, but is rarely used in clinical practice. A barrier for implementation is the expected mental reservations among healthcare providers. The aim of this study was to explore healthcare providers’ perceptions and expectations of VAD of real-life events.Setting: Participants were recruited from two Labour and Delivery Units in Denmark. In both units, VAD of real-life obstetrical emergencies had never been conducted.Participants: 22 healthcare providers (10 physicians, 9 midwives and 3 nursing assistants). During the study period (August–October 2021), semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.Primary and secondary outcome measures: A qualitative description of healthcare providers’ perceptions and expectations of VAD of real-life events.Results: Three major themes were identified: (1)Video-assisted debriefing (VAD) as an opportunity for learning:All participants expected VAD to provide an opportunity for learning and improving patient care. All participants expected the video to provide a ‘bigger picture’, by showing ‘what was actually done’ instead of ‘what we believed was done’. (2)Video-assisted debriefing (VAD) as a cause for concern:The primary concern for all participants was the risk of being exposed as less competent. Participants were concerned that being confronted with every minor detail of their clinical practice would enhance their self-criticalness. (3)Preconditions for video-assisted debriefing (VAD):Participants emphasised the importance of organisational support from management. In addition, creating a safe environment for VAD, for example, by using only expert debriefers was considered an essential precondition for successful implementation.Conclusions: The risk of being exposed as less competent was a barrier towards VAD of real-life events. However, the majority found the educational benefits to outweigh the risk of being exposed.

Background: In 2015, the WorkSafeMed study assessed, amongst others, perceived psychosocial working conditions in nurses (n = 567) and physicians (n = 381) from two German university hospitals using scales from the German standard version of the COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire). This standard version is based on the international COPSOQ I and II. Since 2017, a further developed version of the German COPSOQ (G-COPSOQ III) has been available and data from this version are stored in the German COPSOQ database. The aim of the present study was to compare scales depicting perceived psychosocial workloads and strain in hospital staff from the WorkSafeMed study with reference data (hospital care nurses, general hospital physicians, reference values across all occupations) from the German COPSOQ database (2012–2017). As preliminary work, we explored whether a conversion of COPSOQ scales based on data from the WorkSafeMed study to the G-COPSOQ III scales was possible. Methods: We applied a multistep approach for conversion. First, we compared 17 COPSOQ scales used in the WorkSafeMed study with the corresponding scales from the G-COPSOQ III according to content and then decided if a conversion was appropriate. If possible, we converted WorkSafeMed scales - the converted scales comprised the same content and number of items as in G-COPSOQ III. An explorative statistical analysis for each original and converted WorkSafeMed scale followed detecting possible statistical and relevant differences between the scales. We then compared converted WorkSafeMed scales with reference data from the German COPSOQ database. Results: Based on the comparison undertaken according to content, a conversion was possible for 16 scales. Using the data from the WorkSafeMed study, the statistical analysis showed only differences between original and converted COPSOQ scales “control over working time” (mean 40.2 vs. 51.8, d_Cohen = 0.56) and “social relations” (mean 55.6 vs. 41.8, d_Cohen = − 0.55). Comparing converted WorkSafeMed scales with reference data revealed higher values for “quantitative demands”, “work-privacy-conflict”, and “job satisfaction” in the WorkSafeMed sample. Conclusions: The conversion of WorkSafeMed scales was appropriate, allowed a comparison with three reference values in the German COPSOQ database and revealed some implications for improving psychosocial working conditions of nurses and physicians in university hospitals in Germany.

Die Gestaltung von guten psychosozialen Arbeitsbedingungen und einer umfassenden Sicherheitskultur sind zentrale Herausforderungen im deutschen Gesundheitssystem. In der vom BMBF geförderten WorkSafeMed Studie wurden von 2014 bis 2017 der Einfluss von psychosozialen Arbeitsbedingungen auf Arbeitssicherheitskultur und Patientensicherheitskultur an zwei deutschen Universitätskliniken untersucht mit dem Ziel, Implikationen für eine umfassende Sicherheitskultur für die berufliche Praxis abzuleiten.

Objective: To study the psychometric properties of the Georgian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire short version.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting: Three Georgian hospitals.Participants: Personnel of participating hospitals (n=305 responses, estimated response rate 30%).Interventions: None.Primary and secondary outcome measures: Psychometric properties (model fit, internal consistency, construct validity, convergent and discriminant validity) of the instrument, factor structure derived from the data.Results: The Georgian version of Safety Attitudes Questionnaire demonstrated acceptable construct validity and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.61–0.91). Three factors, Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate and Working Conditions, had limited convergent and discriminant validity. Confirmatory factor analysis with the original six-factor model resulted in limited model fit (χ²/df=2.14, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.06, goodness of fit index (GFI)=0.83, CFI=0.88, TLI=0.86). Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a modified four-factor model with satisfactory model fit (χ²/df=2.09, RMSEA=0.06, GFI=0.88, CFI=0.93, TLI=0.91).Conclusions: The Georgian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (short version) demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, with acceptable to good internal consistency and construct validity. While the whole model had limited fit to the data, a modified factor model resulted in good model fit. Our findings suggest the dimension Working Conditions has questionable psychometric properties and should be interpreted with caution. Other two correlated dimensions Teamwork Climate and Safety Climate share considerable variance and may be merged. Overall, the instrument can provide valuable information relevant for advancement of patient safety culture in Georgian hospitals.