Objective: Determine if a NICU resident delivery room (DR) skills educational curriculum is associated with changes in neonatal resuscitation team characteristics, including teamwork, communication and leadership.
Study design: This prospective, observational study of resident-attended neonatal resuscitations utilized team questionnaire, video assessment and chart review. Each resident NICU block included a curriculum consisting of two educational programs focusing on NRP knowledge and skills with additional emphasis on teamwork and communication strategies.
Results: Ninety-nine resuscitations met inclusion criteria. Comparing behaviors at the beginning versus end of a NICU block, residents demonstrated increased frequency of initiating leadership (31% vs. 93%, p < 0.001) and maintaining leadership (19% vs. 79%, p < 0.001) at low-risk, resident-attended DR resuscitations. Overall measurements of teamwork and communication were unchanged.
Conclusions: A NICU DR skills educational curriculum is associated with increased resident leadership at low-risk DR resuscitations over the course of NICU blocks, without compromising measurements of teamwork or communication.