TeamSTEPPS®: The Patient Safety Tool That Needs to Be Implemented

Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS®), crew resource management, and human factors, or ergonomics principles, have received the attention of many clinicians and administrators in health care today. For those conducting simulation or preparing an education initiative aimed at improving patient safety, these team-based concepts, directed toward improving system and team functioning for patient safety, can be overwhelming and confusing. This article explores the key components of crew resource management and human factor principles and how they fit into the more complete teamwork tool known as TeamSTEPPS®. In addition, barriers, especially the lack of leadership training in nursing and medicine, are identified, as are suggestions for incorporating the TeamSTEPPS® competencies through simulation.