Supervision and Entrustment in Clinical Training: Protecting Patients, Protecting Trainees | AHRQ Patient Safety Network

Supervision and Entrustment in Clinical Training: Protecting Patients, Protecting Trainees | AHRQ Patient Safety Network

Supervision and Entrustment in Clinical Training: Protecting Patients, Protecting Trainees

• NEW
• SPOTLIGHT CASE
• CE/MOC

Olle ten Cate, PhD; November 2018

An ICU patient with head and spine trauma was sent for an MRI. Due his critical condition, hospital policy required a physician and nurse to accompany the patient to the MRI scanner. The ICU attending assigned a new intern, who felt unprepared to handle any crises that might arise, to transport the patient along with the nurse. While in a holding area awaiting the MRI, the patient's heart rate fell below 20 beats per minute, and the experienced ICU nurse administered atropine to recover his heart rate and blood pressure. The intern worried he had placed the patient's life at risk because of his inexperience, but he also felt uncomfortable speaking up.