Simulation, a relevant pedagogical approach
Simulation is integrated into new and relevant teaching methods for training healthcare professionals. It has also long been used in other fields such as aeronautics* and can be seen as a tool for testing one's work environment.
In healthcare, "simulation has established itself in just a few years as an essential tool for training high-risk professions."*
Since 2010, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) has promoted simulation in healthcare, and a comprehensive guide was published on this subject in 2019.
Simulation, a pretext for debriefing
According to the French National Authority for Health (HAS), simulation in healthcare corresponds to "the use of equipment, virtual reality, or a standardized patient to reproduce care situations or environments, to teach diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and to allow for the repetition of processes, clinical situations, or decision-making by a healthcare professional or a team of professionals."*
More generally, it involves playing a role in an environment partially or completely reconstructed in another time, in which the actions performed have no direct consequences for patients. This is the famous "never the first time on a patient" principle.
Simulation in healthcare brings together several conditions favorable to learning. Indeed, the value of simulation goes beyond simply practicing a technique and implementing a behavior.
It allows one to grasp a realistic environment, to understand its complexity, but also to reflect on one's own thoughts, actions, and emotions. This is sometimes referred to as reflexivity or metacognition. However, the quality of learning through simulation also depends on another key element: debriefing. This is a time for analysis and synthesis that follows the simulated situation. It is often said that the simulation is merely a pretext for debriefing. Debriefing is defined by Pierre Pastré as "all the sequences that aim, after the action, to lead learners to a reflective (and retrospective) analysis of their own activity." The main objective of debriefing is to foster learner reflexivity and is a key moment for learning from a simulation. It allows learners to analyze their actions through feedback and also to readjust them through group discussions with the trainer. Its role is to "help participants understand, analyze, and synthesize their reasoning, emotions, and actions during the simulation in order to improve their future performance in similar situations."* The implementation of a debriefing: The debriefing must be carefully prepared by the trainers. The 3D model for Defusing, Discovering, Deepening offers an interesting structure. Other models exist. Let's briefly explain the RAS model (similar to 3D), which typically unfolds in three phases.* The initial "reaction" (R) phase allows participants (or learners) to express their emotions and immediate feelings. This phase helps release tension by verbalizing experiences, thus facilitating calm and productive discussions later on. It is a descriptive phase where learners may be asked to describe the events that occurred and their corresponding reactions. The second phase, called "analysis" (A), explores the actions taken and the reasoning that led to them. This phase, guided by the trainer/debriefer, must meet the learning objectives defined in the training program. The third phase is "synthesis" (S).
This phase can be carried out either by the trainer or the learner, and its main purpose is to assess learning. It must also precisely define new objectives and improvement actions in terms of knowledge, skills, and behaviors.
SafeTeam Academy and Simulation
The founders of SafeTeam Academy are simulation trainers and have drawn on this pedagogical expertise to innovate and offer a new way of simulating.
Starting from lived simulation in-situ, the ultimate in full-scale simulation, Drs. F. Martin and F. Jaulin created perceived simulation: like in a movie, learners are immersed in an immersive video film during which practices and routines are examined.
SafeTeam Academy uses simulation as a tool for improving the reliability of healthcare practices by drawing on a long-established industry in France: cinema. Thanks to feedback from field professionals, the immersive video training modules are scripted based on real-life stories—from cases reported in the Patient Safety Database—thus representing “real life.” Realism and perceived authenticity are key drivers of learning. This experiential learning tool helps analyze practices and develop new skills within healthcare facilities, thereby promoting the learning of healthcare professionals. Furthermore, to meet this challenge, the SafeTeam Academy also employs teaching methods used in simulation. The goal: to develop metacognition. This involves reflecting on how we communicate, how we make decisions, how we work…
Metacognition is developed through reflective questions posed during the film, inviting healthcare professionals, immersed in an emotionally engaging context, to question their practices.
The e-learning training programs offered by the SafeTeam Academy are designed to be complemented by in-person debriefing sessions and facilitated discussions focused on improving practices. In this sense, simulation centers and simulation trainers are true agents of change and work together seamlessly to offer the most powerful blended learning experience available today.
If you too would like to contribute to improving the reliability of care within your organizations, SafeTeam Academy training programs are for you! For more information, write to the following address: contact@safeteam.academy
