Preceptorship
Frances Edmondson explains how a new AHP preceptorship programme within East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is using simulation-based training to develop essential skills .
Preceptorship
Feature
The future is bright for East Sussex AHP preceptees
Frances Edmondson explains how a new AHP preceptorship programme within East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is using simulation-based training to develop essential skills .
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n October 2022 , East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust ( ESHT ) launched a new allied healthcare professional ( AHP ) preceptorship programme , called The Future is Bright . This is a blended learning programme based on national frameworks , with the majority of content accessible online and enhanced with bespoke in-person training sessions , two of which are simulation-based learning .
The Future is Bright is aimed at all AHPs new to their role , including those who are newly qualified , returning to practice , or internationally educated .
As it is an AHP programme , our occupational therapists are learning alongside physiotherapists , dieticians , speech and language therapists , osteopaths and podiatrists , which promotes better patient care through collaborative working and communication .
We are hoping to extend the programme to AHPs within other divisions within the organisation over the coming year .
Rationale for the project
Simulation learning provides opportunities for healthcare professionals to ‘ acquire , develop and maintain the essential knowledge , skills , values and behaviours needed for safe and effective patient care ’ ( HEE 2021 ).
Practitioners are enabled to practise skills and prepare for the unexpected through interactive learning any risk to patients and the simulation can be tailored to the needs of specific professional groups and trust priorities ( Blanford 2019 ).
However , simulation learning is not used routinely within all AHP groups , despite being well embedded within the medicine and nursing education environment ( HEE 2016 ). It was not something the preceptorship team at ESHT had experienced .
Heuer et al ( 2022 ) do describe use within paramedic and respiratory therapist training and mostly within stationary simulation labs .
The ESHT simulation team describe simulation as : ‘ Involving learners within predetermined scenarios designed to simulate real life situation in a safe and controlled environment . The predetermined scenarios will contain patients ’ evidence-based symptoms , could contain errors deliberately inputted by faculty , or they might contain scenarios that are difficult to handle , or have not used before in training .’
The ESHT simulation team has supported the preceptorship team and were keen to extend their scope of practice .
Simulation learning has been found to have ‘ reasonable ’ evidence for non-technical and human factor skills and good evidence for the use of simulation in emergency presentations . It can improve patient outcomes ( HEE 2016 ), as well as skill retention and enhanced confidence ( Heuer 2022 ).
Titzer et al ( 2012 ) cites interprofessional simulation learning as promoting interprofessional collaboration , sharing of
38 OTnews February 2024