Medical Simulation Training makes The Grade

How can medical students learn how to care for patients without causing injury to them? Through medical simulation training! More and more colleges and universities are looking to simulation to ensure that their learners are ready to practice safe care delivery once they reach the workforce, and healthcare practitioners of all stripes – including nurses, physician's assistants, dentists, physical therapists, professional counselors, and of course medical doctors– are reaping the benefits.

For decades, simulation has been a common educational tool in the aviation industry and military. Simulation allows trainees to develop the decision making and physical skills necessary to succeed in high-stakes environments, all within a safe environment. Trainees may make errors, but the stakes only go as far as the simulations' boundaries.

Medical simulation training offers a similar benefit for prospective clinicians. When a school or hospital sets up a simulation training lab, they're making a commitment to improve patient outcomes. What's the medical student's bedside manner like? Does he or she utilize appropriate communication skills when interacting with patients, stakeholders, and fellow practitioners? How might clinical skills such as assessment and treatment be improved? Were the correct drug dosages administered, and within the correct order? When the simulation exercise is not just a run-through, but rather a life like emergency event that requires students to be on their toes and at the top of their game, the stakes may seem high—and yet unlike a real clinical environment, those stakes provide a learning experience in which errors can be observed, quantified, and eventually overcome.

But who exactly are the students treating during the simulation? In some instances, patients are actually actors trained to portray specific medical conditions and answer questions about their health history and physical state in a uniform manner: standardized patients.

Other simulation training events may employ high-tech human patient simulators, or mannequins. These aren't hanging around to model clothes! Simulation mannequins, controlled by a simulation operator, speak, blink, experience shortness of breath and heart palpitations, and present a scene in which students are able to make real-time clinical treatment decisions. With mannequins, students can administer chest compressions, and deliver drugs—and babies!

Standardized patients and simulation mannequins each have their pluses and minuses. Where a standardized patient can observe a student's care delivery skills on the "ground level," making notes and even scoring the student after the event, mannequins are dependent upon their operators. Likewise, students have a rare opportunity to provide hands-on care to a mannequin, and then watch how said care influences the patient's vital signs, with a simulation mannequin.

Both standardized patient and simulation mannequin events can be recorded with medical simulation management technology within the lab. The lab's operator has the power to record audio and video of each event, and then stream the footage to a debriefing room. Medical students sit down with their instructors to make assessments about their performance during the simulation event, and instructors provide valuable feedback on what the student did right and where there's room for improvement. High-stakes? Perhaps not—but extremely valuable for improving clinical delivery skills for better patient care outcomes.

About The Author:

The author of the article has extensive experience in the field of Medical Simulation Training and Nursing Simulation Scenarios.