In the March 2024 blogpost, we outlined the key changes to the Professional Standards Framework (2023) in comparison with its predecessor, the 2011 UKPSF.
We highlighted that there was a new professional value: “V5: Collaborating with others to enhance practice.”
In this blogpost we asked Deborah Rowberry, Senior Lecturer – Simulation Education Specialist in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science to outline how collaboration is integral to developing simulation exercises.
Using Simulation to address V5: ‘collaborate with others to enhance practice’
Simulation offers a collaborative learning environment where students from different healthcare disciplines can work together (ASPiH 2023). By working through applied simulated scenarios, learners can engage in valuable interprofessional learning (IPL), problem-solving, and decision-making. This approach mirrors real-world experiences found in clinical practice settings. By participating in this education modality, learners gain insights into each other’s roles, learn to appreciate diverse perspectives, and develop teamwork skills. IPL enhances clinical safety and promotes confident, collaborative approaches to patient care (Cooper et al, 2015).
Simulation educators and technologists in the SUSIM Centre work with faculty to develop meaningful education experiences. A recent example of this was a paramedic and midwifery event. These disciplines work in together in practice, often in acute life-threatening situations. The teams enthusiastically developed a learning event for their UG programmes. This is new to curriculum in 2024 and proved to be a very successful innovation. Learners engaged in caring for a series of maternal emergencies. They were able to understand each other’s roles, scope of practice and worked safely together for a positive clinical outcome. Approximately 110 learners participated in this event over 3 consecutive days. Preparation for such an event needs considerable planning, the teams worked incredibly hard to deliver this for learners.
Assessing the effectiveness of simulation teaching is paramount in our philosophy, this was done via a series of methods, including effective debriefing using a validated quality assessment tool (DASH, 2023). The debrief process ensures learning outcomes have been met by all participants, allowing them to reflect on and to close their own learning gaps through skilled facilitation of the educator.
To summarise, Interprofessional simulation encourages collaboration among undergraduate students. Allowing them to work and learn together to develop a shared understanding of patient care (Yu et al, 2020).
References
Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare. The ASPiH standards 2023. 2023. ASPiH Standards 2023 – ASPiH
Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare (DASH) | Center for Medical Simulation (harvardmedsim.org)
Cooper T, Webster CS, Liu S, et al. Interprofessional learning in multidisciplinary healthcare teams is associated with reduced patient mortality: a quantitative systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Patient Safety. 2024;20(1):57-65. doi:10.1097/pts.0000000000001170.
Yu J Chiu, Chen, HW., O’Donnell, J.M. et al. Comparison of learning outcomes of interprofessional education simulation with traditional single-profession education simulation: a mixed-methods study. BMC Med Educ 22, 651 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03640-z
