Benefits of Debriefing with Medical Simulation Software

Top medical schools around the world are realizing the benefits of adding simulation to their educational curricula—including quicker skill development, longer skill retention, and more seamless application of skills from the classroom to real clinical environments, all leading to better healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Standardized patients (SPs) and human patient simulators (mannequins) are used in state-of-the-art clinical simulation labs equipped with medical simulation software that realistically emulate clinical settings such as hospital emergency rooms and maternity wards, general practice physician's offices, and even ambulances or other emergency vehicles. Simulation administrators and faculty can view live or recorded videos of everything that happens in the lab and then make assessments. Learners are scored on their care delivery, teamwork, communication, and decision making skills.

One of the prime benefits of medical simulation is that it allows learners to make mistakes and develop skills within a safe environment: at no point in time is an actual patient's health or wellbeing jeopardized, but the simulated event is lifelike enough that the learner acts in the same way he or should would during a real one. A simulation administrator can then leverage the lab's capabilities to maximize learning by scheduling a debriefing session after everysimulated event. And nothing enhances the debriefing process quite like leading-edge medical simulation software.

With medical simulation software, the lab administrator or faculty member can make bookmarks and annotations during the live simulation event – for instance, to note that the learner didn't wash his hands at 0:49 and correctly took the patient's blood pressure at 4:11. That way, during the debriefing session, the learner can see what he did wrong as well as what he did right.

New bookmarks or expanded annotations can also be made on the videorecording after the event takes place. An administrator can view the recording at the lab, at home, or on the go.And with the right permissions, the learner can also access the medical simulation software web-application in order to view and review each simulated event for even greater understanding.

The sooner a debriefing session takes place after a simulated event, the better, because the event will be fresh in the learner's mind and the learner will be able to more accurately trace the actuality back to his own memory. The learner can then begin to formulate a plan for improving his performance next time – say, to wash his hands before touching the patient, or doing a physical exam in addition to checking blood pressure. That's why it's essential that the video recording be made available for immediate viewing within the medical simulation software platform.

Debriefing through medical simulation software also makes it possible for the learner to trace his performance over time. By viewing several recordings of the simulation events he took part in, he might see what he consistently gets right – or wrong.

Likewise, medical simulation software enables the lab administrator or faculty member to trace several learners' performance over time—weekly, monthly, yearly, or between classes or campuses. If a number of learners make the same mistakes repeatedly within a single scripted medical simulation event, gaps in the curricula may be exposed and overcome. Or if a single learner performs particularly well, perhaps her technique can be highlighted and used as an example for enhanced teamwork within the group.

Debriefing through medical simulation software can also take place outside of the lab. If the simulated event takes place during a mock emergency drill, the administrator could potentially create a video recording and then conduct the debriefing with a mobile device.

Education Management Solutions (EMS) offers the most advanced medical simulation software platform on the market. With EMS' SIMULATIONiQ Enterprise, simulation lab administrators can control all of their scheduling, inventory, and personneldata points; create high-definition audio and video recordings of every simulation event; make bookmarks and annotations on live or recorded video; and importantly: conduct the debriefing sessions that are essential for every clinical learner's skill development for better, more consistent patient care.

EMS' SIMULATIONiQ Portable and SIMULATIONiQ Mobile solutions are ideal for on-the-go or in situ simulation events. These medical simulation software and hardware offerings are easy to set up and use, allowing lab administrators and faculty members a great deal of versatility when it comes to scheduling and running a simulation—for instance, SIMULATIONiQ Mobile would be a good option for the administrator who wants to debrief in the field.

In brief: for better learning outcomes, don't forget to conduct a debriefing session following the simulation event. And visit www.SIMULATIONiQ.com for more on how medical simulation software can enhance the debriefing process.

About The Author:

The author of the article has an extensive experience in the field of Medical Simulation Software and Medical Simulation Training.

The author of the article has an extensive experience in the field of Simulation and Deliberate Practice.