Do you think debriefing clinical events is important? Alberta Health Services Provincial Patient Safety is surveying colleagues across Canada to see who is conducting or interested in taking part in, regular clinical debriefings. 

Debriefings can be hot (immediate or within a few hours of the event) or cold (days to weeks after the event). Critical incident stress management (CISM) debriefing is an example of a cold debriefing.

Clinical debriefing is a hot debrief. It can take many forms. Generally it is a short, facilitated and structured inter-professional discussion held immediately after a high stakes or unexpected event. Characteristics of a good clinical debriefing include:

• Held regularly after key events and based on the needs of the clinical team
• Opportunity to reflect immediately after the event
• Supports a culture where all clinical team members feel supported, valued and empowered to make improvements

AHS is curious to know:

1. Are you regularly debriefing clinical events?
2. Who leads the debriefing?
3. Do you use a specific structure to debrief?
4. What benefits have you found?
5. What are the barriers you face implementing a clinical debriefing process?
6. Do you think that debriefing clinical events is important?

Please take this short (11 question/5 minutes) online survey at: Clinical Debriefing Survey