The Interdisciplinary Academy for Coaching and Teamwork (I-ACT): A novel approach for training faculty experts in preventing healthcare-associated infection

Abstract

Background: The Interdisciplinary Academy for Coaching and Teamwork (I-ACT) was an advanced course aimed at educating leaders of a quality improvement project on addressing clinical challenges associated with catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), overcoming socioadaptive issues among a multidisciplinary team, and effective coaching.

Methods: The I-ACT course provided substantial opportunities for interaction among participants and faculty experts through role playing. Participants were grouped so that each discipline of a potential CAUTI improvement team was represented during interactive components of the training. Precourse and postcourse surveys were used to assess participants' comfort in addressing various challenges associated with implementation of interventions.

Results: After the course, participants expressed improved comfort with using the tools provided to address challenging socioadaptive issues. Written comments indicated that the participants valued being able to learn from experts and meet in a face-to-face setting.

Conclusions: The I-ACT course was successful in training faculty to serve as improvement experts for US hospitals working on CAUTI prevention. After completing the course, participants felt that their comfort and ability to address complex improvement problems had improved. This model may be effective for use in preparing improvement project leaders and participants to tackle other healthcare-associated infections and complex quality problems.

Keywords: Catheter-associated infection; Mentors; Quality improvement; Socioadaptive; Urinary catheterization.