Above : East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust Simulation Suite
‘ The unwell or deteriorating patient ’; and ‘ The fallen patient ’.
The group designed some pre-written scenarios that were based on real life experiences and were deemed to be possible situations the preceptees from any of the allied health professions may be presented with . As ESHT is an integrated acute and community trust , we have AHPs working across acute care , intermediate , outpatients and community settings , and therefore the simulation learning had to be designed to meet the needs of all attendees , by utilising both inpatient and community scenarios .
For example , a patient falls at home when you are attending their property for an appointment , or the patient you are visiting in a hospital bed is unresponsive or has developed new symptoms of stroke .
For the preceptorship team to build their own skills , existing in-house training sessions for the nurses were observed and the development lead for occupational therapy attended the ESHT Simulation Faculty development day , which gave valuable insight into how simulation training is run and what is required for preparation , facilitation and the debrief .
The trust simulation team then supported with the development of a formal curriculum with intended learning outcomes , briefing and debriefing guidance based on the Simulationbased education in healthcare : standards , framework and guidance ( HEE and ASPiH 2016 ).
The learning objectives all focus on collaborative working , communication , role boundaries , escalation and handover .
The preceptorship simulation sessions
Learners are sent a pre-session email containing information about simulation and directing them to the trust simulation team website . The sessions are facilitated currently by the development leads for occupational therapy and physiotherapy , with co-facilitation from other members of the AHP team .
It is important that prior to the session , the facilitators know the professional backgrounds of the learners . At the start of the session all learners are asked to introduce themselves to the group and are introduced to the simulation suite and familiarise themselves with the mannequins and the concept of simulation learning .
The psychological safety of the candidates is considered . There are ground rules set to enable a safe and supportive learning environment , as Patterson et al ( 2008 ) describe that participant anxiety , clinical and time pressures , and culture , can impact upon the success of simulation , engagement and learning .
The facilitators explain the purpose of the simulation and that the sessions are for learning , mistakes can be made , and it is not intended as a pass or fail exercise .
The simulations then run one scenario at a time , usually with two learners within the simulation suite , with other members of the group watching via live video streaming in another room .
The scenarios last approximately five minutes and either use the ‘ simman ’ – a robotic mannequin – or a real person , usually a member of the team . A 20-minute debrief with the whole group follows , which is an opportunity for critical reflection and where most of learning happens .
40 OTnews February 2024