By Victoria Brazil (@SocraticEM); Gabe Reedy (@gabereedy); Serkan Toy; Michelle Michelle Kelly (@KellyKelmich)
Numerous articles of interest to the clinician educator are published every day – in clinical, medical education and simulation journals. Which should change our practice? How do we find them?
Every year the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) selects a group of ‘Articles of Influence’ from the four main simulation journals – Simulation in Healthcare, Clinical Simulation in Nursing, Advances in Simulation and BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning.
The list is presented at the annual International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH), held recently in San Diego. It’s also added to the SSH Simulation Scholarship Knowledge map.
The process is interesting. Society members express interest in reviewing articles, with coordination and oversight from members of the SSH Research Committee (including GR, ST and MK, co-authors of this post). This year, 166 nominated articles were reviewed by a team of 36 reviewers, and rated them for the influence on their own or their colleagues’ simulation practice using a 5-point scale. Published research, reviews and conceptual articles were all eligible for nomination.
The team acknowledge the limitations of the process – not all simulation articles are published in simulation journals, reviewers may be variably qualified, and conflicts of interest can occur in a relatively small research community.
But the list is useful for those of us looking for efficient and effective ways to read relevant simulation literature.
The topics and methods are diverse, including a review of simulation research quality, testing of technology (eg telepresent mechanical ventilation training, virtual patients and eye tracking), and examination of senior simulated patient experience.
Quality and safety are a recurring theme in simulation literature, and the list includes a system wide program to reduce medication errors, and another on the impact of phone interruptions on medication errors. There is a systematic review of communication skills training using simulation.
There is a health workforce focus, including the role of simulation in advanced practice nursing programs and in preparation of adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioners, and human factors training for ‘non-clinician’ members of healthcare teams. Whether simulation can replace other learning in nursing student programs via a ‘simulation elective’ adds more to the broader discussion on this topic.
More novel uses of simulation are showcased in a transgender simulation scenario pilot project and a program to empower nursing students to address incivility in the workplace.
The increasing role of simulation in testing and developing physical environments and care processes in healthcare is reflected in a paper looking at tracking workflow during in situ trauma simulations.
For those interested in participating in the process next year – more information is available on the SSIH website.
Happy reading!
vb