ED sims prepare interprofessional learners for real-life emergencies

Effective teamwork during an emergency situation?

Just what the doctor, nurse and pharmacist ordered.

UAB Clinical Simulation recently hosted a group of interprofessional learners for an Emergency Department (ED) simulation.

Co-facilitated by associate professor Jaron Raper, M.D., the simulation depicted a patient experiencing a pulmonary emergency. Learners included first- through third-year emergency medicine residents, emergency services trauma/burns nurses and a pharmacy resident.

“We were going through the diagnostic algorithms with our residents, as well as the treatment algorithms and how to restratify those patients according to the way they’re presenting, the physical exam findings and the vital signs,” said Raper, who was delighted with the learners’ performance. “I think they did great. Honestly, I was very impressed. These cases are a little bit nuanced, and they already have a good understanding of the algorithms that we’ve taught them up until this point. I think this really reinforced a lot of that and gave them a chance to practice it in a safe space.”

Immersive simulation is designed to offer learners a safe environment in which they can practice navigating complex situations, reducing errors and thus enhancing patient safety.

“Additionally, it can increase collaboration and communication among health-care teams, leading to improved overall patient care,” said Andres Viles, UAB Clinical Simulation’s director of immersive simulation.

As such, Raper was particularly impressed with how the learners performed from a communication standpoint.

“We always focus on our residents learning and really repeating back closed-loop communication, establishing their roles in a team and making sure that we have open lanes of communication between our different learners, whether they’re nurses, pharmacists or physicians,” Raper said. “Our learners really showed themselves to be outstanding in that way.”

Sarah Shipley, R.N., professional development specialist with emergency services trauma/burns, agreed.

“This simulation was extremely helpful for our new hire nurses to become more comfortable working with our physicians and working through complex patient presentations,” she said. “This particular case emphasized the importance of obtaining a full and accurate patient history, completing a thorough patient assessment and continuously monitoring patients for changes in condition and disease progression. Our nurses were grateful to practice a case like this in a simulated environment with providers they will be working with and reported an increase in their confidence level as new nurses in the Emergency Department.”

Logan Beach, M.D., a learner and emergency medicine resident, was grateful for the experience.

“I thought the simulation was really effective,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of lectures on (the topic presented), and this was a good way to synthesize it.”

To learn how simulation can benefit your department or team, email simulation@uabmc.edu.

UAB Medicine’s Clinical Simulation program offers opportunities for individuals and teams across UAB Medicine and beyond to practice before they deliver care. We encourage all who provide and support patient care to “Sim First.” Together, we can put our patients’ safety first.