MAY - 20198In My OpinionSIMULATION: BEYOND THE BEDSIDENancy A. Bardugon, Executive Development Program Manager, Intermountain HealthcareIn our technologically driven world, we place a high importance on the innovations and advancements we use to clinically treat the patients we serve. However, for practitioners to successfully keep up with the pace of innovation, as well as the widening complexities at all levels of the evolving healthcare landscape, we must also continuously improve how we offer and deliver quality education.Over the course of my 25-year career as an Intensive Care Unit nurse and nurse leader in healthcare, I have seen the landscape of how education is delivered change dramatically. Historically, training followed the apprenticeship model of "see one, do one, teach one." With this passive learning model, many trainees finish orientation without ever witnessing or performing procedures necessary for their respective field. To overcome these limitations, healthcare organizations are embracing the active learner methodology of simulation training. This approach to training refers to an organized event utilizing simulation technology to represent realistic representations of their environment to achieve educational goals through experiential learning. The Society for Simulation in Healthcare recognizes simulation as a bridge between classroom learning and real-life experience and describes four distinct roles for simulation--simulation education, simulation-based assessment, simulation-based research, and systems integration.Simulation provides a way for practitioners to experience high stake situations in a safe environment followed by a debriefing to understand workflow processes, solve problems, and solidify lessons learned. With an increased demand on training hours, limited clinical encounters, and an increased focus on becoming highly reliable organizations, many hospital systems are investing in space and operations to build on-site simulation labs and centers for training. In this setting, caregivers who touch the lives of patients will have a unique opportunity to practice and hone critical technical and communication skills necessary to navigate difficult and critical situations which help keep our employees and patients safe.Healthcare simulation at Intermountain Healthcare began in 2006 at Primary Children's Medical Center with the opening of on-site simulation lab. Today, Intermountain healthcare has invested in 10 additional simulation labs (including a 10,000 square foot simulation center) supporting caregivers across our organization of 23 hospitals. Nancy A. BardugonBy
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