Implementation and Performance of a Clinical Debriefing Programme in a Paediatric Emergency Department: A Descriptive Qualitative Review
- 1Emergency Department (ED) Queensland Children's Hospital (QCH) South Brisbane Queensland Australia
- 2Griffith University Gold Coast Queensland Australia
Abstract
Objective: Clinical debriefing should be standard practice in healthcare, but in most emergency departments implementation lags behind evidence. This post‐implementation evaluation examined the performance of a clinical debriefing programme in a tertiary care paediatric emergency department, exploring implementation, key enablers and barriers to use.
Methods: This qualitative descriptive, post‐implementation study used semi‐structured interviews, with deductive analysis guided by a context–mechanism–outcome framework.
Results: Twenty‐one multidisciplinary staff were interviewed. Debriefing became embedded in routine practice through organisational endorsement, structured facilitation and inclusive participation. Participants reported improved clinical reasoning, emotional regulation, psychological safety and interprofessional relationships. Debriefing strengthened support for junior staff, enhanced relational co‐ordination across disciplines, facilitated more timely quality and safety actions and built nursing capacity to lead debriefs. Time was the principal barrier, but reframing debriefing as an integral component of clinical care enabled its routine delivery.
Conclusions: Clinical debriefing was embedded in routine practice through interactions between organisational context and implementation mechanisms, with successful implementation relying on both the intervention and the conditions enabling it. Benefits for clinical practice, staff well‐being, teamwork, enhanced support for the junior workforce and timely quality improvement initiatives were described. This study advances current understanding and provides direction for teams seeking to implement or optimise debriefing within their own departments.
Related
- Implementation science in global paediatric oncology: a scoping review protocol.
- Parents’ perceptions of high-quality nursing care for children with cancer: a qualitative descriptive study
- Nursing students’ experiences with using generative artificial intelligence: a descriptive qualitative study
- Surviving cancer, managing the heart: Awareness of potential cardiovascular toxicity and barriers to cardiovascular self-management among women with breast cancer: A qualitative descriptive study
- Community barriers, perceptions, and health-seeking behaviors within the one health approach in six priority districts of Rwanda: a descriptive qualitative study
BibTeX
@article{reeves2026implementation,
title = {{Implementation and Performance of a Clinical Debriefing Programme in a Paediatric Emergency Department: A Descriptive Qualitative Review}},
author = {Katie Leanne Reeves and Amelia Batty and Karin Plummer},
journal = {Emergency Medicine Australasia},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/1742-6723.70376},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.70376},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Implementation and Performance of a Clinical Debriefing Programme in a Paediatric Emergency Department: A Descriptive Qualitative Review
AU - Katie Leanne Reeves
AU - Amelia Batty
AU - Karin Plummer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Emergency Medicine Australasia
DO - 10.1111/1742-6723.70376
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.70376
AB - Objective: Clinical debriefing should be standard practice in healthcare, but in most emergency departments implementation lags behind evidence. This post‐implementation evaluation examined the performance of a clinical debriefing programme in a tertiary care paediatric emergency department, exploring implementation, key enablers and barriers to use. Methods: This qualitative descriptive, post‐implementation study used semi‐structured interviews, with deductive analysis guided by a context–mechanism–outcome framework. Results: Twenty‐one multidisciplinary staff were interviewed. Debriefing became embedded in routine practice through organisational endorsement, structured facilitation and inclusive participation. Participants reported improved clinical reasoning, emotional regulation, psychological safety and interprofessional relationships. Debriefing strengthened support for junior staff, enhanced relational co‐ordination across disciplines, facilitated more timely quality and safety actions and built nursing capacity to lead debriefs. Time was the principal barrier, but reframing debriefing as an integral component of clinical care enabled its routine delivery. Conclusions: Clinical debriefing was embedded in routine practice through interactions between organisational context and implementation mechanisms, with successful implementation relying on both the intervention and the conditions enabling it. Benefits for clinical practice, staff well‐being, teamwork, enhanced support for the junior workforce and timely quality improvement initiatives were described. This study advances current understanding and provides direction for teams seeking to implement or optimise debriefing within their own departments.
SN - 1742-6731
SN - 1742-6723
ER -