Nursing Simulation Debriefing: Useful Tools.

The value of simulation-based education can be lost without a structured and purposeful guided debrief where nursing students and health care professionals are able to think critically and reflect on the experiential learning. Debriefing enhances peer-to-peer learning and aids the nursing student in formulating best practice for the next time when this encounter may occur in the clinical setting. Debriefing should be led by a trained facilitator using evidence-based methods to ensure a safe learning environment for nursing students. Debriefing is an essential learning tool that should be considered for application in the classroom, clinical, and laboratory settings.

Embracing Disruption: Measuring Effectiveness of Virtual Simulations in Advanced Practice Nurse Curriculum.

Changes in academia have occurred quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person simulation-based education has been adapted into a virtual format to meet course learning objectives. The methods and procedures leveraged to onboard faculty, staff, and graduate nurse practitioner students to virtual simulation-based education while ensuring simulation best practice standards and obtaining evaluation data using the Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M) tool are described in this article.

Sleep safe in clean hands: Improving hand hygiene compliance in the operating room through education and increased access to hand hygiene products.

BACKGROUND: Hand hygiene compliance is low among anesthesia providers in the operating room, which places patients at risk of preventable infections. The goal of this project was to improve hand hygiene compliance by educating anesthesia providers on the World Health Organization's 5 indications for hand hygiene, and increasing access to hand hygiene products in the operating room. METHODS: Observations of hand hygiene in the operating room took place in 3 phases: preimplementation, postimplementation, and 60 days postimplementation. RESULTS: The results showed significant improvements in compliance for each of the 5 indications for hand hygiene as well as overall compliance. Each of the 3 phases of anesthesia demonstrated significant improvement as well. The results also showed a significant decrease in both glove use and use of the portable hand sanitizer device. DISCUSSION: Education and monitoring of hand hygiene among anesthesia providers in the operating room can improve hand hygiene compliance. CONCLUSIONS: Although the use of the portable device declined, further studies could focus on observing single anesthesia providers instead of a preceptor/student combination, and also examine proximity to hand hygiene products in relation to compliance.

Integrating Telepresence Robots Into Nursing Simulation.

This article provides an overview of the use of telepresence robots in clinical practice and describes an evaluation of an educational project in which distance-based nurse practitioner students used telepresence robots in clinical simulations with on-campus Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students. The results of this project suggest that the incorporation of telepresence in simulation is an effective method to promote engagement, satisfaction, and self-confidence in learning.

Airway Management: A Structured Curriculum for Critical Care Transport Providers.

OBJECTIVE: Airway assessment and management are vital skills for the critical care transport provider. Nurses and paramedics often enter a transport program with limited or no exposure to airway management. Many programs lack a structured curriculum to show skill competence. Optimal methods in the development of airway management competence and the frequency of training needed to maintain skills have not been clearly defined. Because of this lack of standardization, the actual level of competence in both new and experienced critical care transport providers is unknown. METHODS: A pretest, post-test repeated measures approach using an online curriculum combined with a deliberate practice model was used. Competence in airway management was measured using 3 evaluation points: static mannequin head, simulation scenario, and the live patient. RESULTS: A convenience sample of critical care transport providers participated (N = 9). Knowledge improvement was significant, with a higher percentage of participants scoring above 85% on the post-test compared with the pretest (P = .028). Mean scores in completion of the airway checklist pre- versus postintervention were significantly increased on all 3 evaluation points (P < .001 for all comparisons). Significant changes were noted in the response profile evaluating participants' confidence in their ability to verbalize indications for endotracheal intubation (P < .05). CONCLUSION: The development of a standardized, blended learning curriculum combined with deliberate simulation practice and rigorous assessment showed improvements in multiple areas of airway assessment and management.