Development and Evaluation of the Taxonomy of Trauma Leadership Skills–Shortened for Observation and Reflection in Training: A Practical Tool for Observing and Reflecting on Trauma Leadership Performance

Trauma leadership skills are increasingly being addressed in trauma courses, but few resources are available to systematically observe and debrief trainees' performances. The authors therefore translated their previously developed, extensive Taxonomy of Trauma Leadership Skills (TTLS) into a practical observation tool that is tailored to the vocabulary of clinician instructors and their workflow and workload during simulation-based training. METHODS: In 2016 to 2018, the TTLS was subjected to practical evaluation in an iterative process of 2 stages. In the first stage, testing panels of trauma specialists observed excerpts from videotaped simulations and indicated from the list of elements which behaviors they felt were being shown. Any ambiguities or redundancy were addressed by rephrasing or combining elements. In the second stage, iterations were used in actual scenario training to observe and debrief trainees' performances. The instructors' recommendations resulted in further improvements of clarity, ease of use, and usefulness, until no new suggestions were raised. RESULTS: The resultant “TTLS–Shortened for Observation and Reflection in Training” was given a simpler structure and more concrete and self-explanatory benchmarks. It contains 6 skill categories for evaluation, each with 4 to 6 benchmark behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The TTLS–Shortened for Observation and Reflection in Training is an important addition to other trauma assessment tools because of its specific focus on leadership skills. It helps set concrete performance expectations, simplify note taking, and target observations and debriefings. One central challenge was striking a balance between its conciseness and specificity. The authors reflected on how the decisions for the resultant structure ease and leverage the conduct of observations and performance debriefing.