Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic called for immediate response against the fast spreading virus. At Aarhus university hospital in Denmark, this lead to the establishing of four new covid-19 wards and changing the daily routines for hundreds of healthcare workers. Many healthcare professionals suddenly faced a high personal risk of getting infected or spreading this new virus to their own family. The rapidly increasing numbers of covid-19 patients left no time to ask how the healthcare workers felt, and to comply with the situation, there was an immediate need for covid-19 related education as well as redefining safety among the staff. The aim of the research was to examine whether in situ simulation helped supporting the healthcare professionals, in dealing with the emotional strain of the situation and create a set of guidelines for using in situ simulation in future pandemic responses.
Methods
An interdisciplinary in situ simulation program was conducted to rapidly facilitate the covid-19 related preparations and education of 277 healthcare professionals at the four new covid-19 wards. The focus areas of the in situ simulation program were:
1: To deal with the fact that several of the healthcare professionals were unfamiliar with the working practices and used team communication within the ward.
2: All the healthcare professionals needed education related to personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid spreading the virus.
3: All simulation participants needed education, about how Covid-19 affects the patient.
These areas were moderated into the following learning targets:
- ABCDE approach to the patient with covid-19. - Team cooperation and communication. - Correct use of PPE.
All 69 simulations were conducted in situ so the staff could get familiar with their new clinical setting, archive a mutual communication strategy and help redefining safety among the staff.
Results
Subsequently four random healthcare professionals from each Covid-19 ward participated in a qualitative focus group interview. Each group interview lasted about 90 minutes, were sound recorded and three researchers captured the themes emerging from the data.
Our research show that several participants reported feelings of fear, anxiety and chaos related to the involvement in the covid-19 response. The interviews shoved that in situ simulation could not change the feeling of chaos due to the major organizational changes, but all the participants reported high quality learning from the simulation. Most importantly, the findings showed how in situ simulation generated a feeling of safety. Based upon the personal and joint experience with PPE, experience gained during team training and an important demystification regarding the treatment of patients with this new unknown virus.
Conclusion
Describe your conclusions, how the findings/results of the project do/do not support the original hypothesis/research question/objective for the project, and the resulting implications for the healthcare simulation community. Do NOT use a table in this section. The conclusion should be a narrative summary of the results and findings. If your work it not yet complete, please provide anticipated results. (max 1000 characters)
It cannot be neglected that Covid-19 generates fear and anxiety among healthcare professionals and further negative consequences of the emotional strain will probably emerge. The important lesson from this study is that in situ simulation can be used to redefine safety among healthcare professionals and to incorporate in situ simulation in the early stages of a pandemic response will be recommended.
Methods
An interdisciplinary in situ simulation program was conducted to rapidly facilitate the covid-19 related preparations and education of 277 healthcare professionals at the four new covid-19 wards. The focus areas of the in situ simulation program were:
1: To deal with the fact that several of the healthcare professionals were unfamiliar with the working practices and used team communication within the ward.
2: All the healthcare professionals needed education related to personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid spreading the virus.
3: All simulation participants needed education, about how Covid-19 affects the patient.
These areas were moderated into the following learning targets:
- ABCDE approach to the patient with covid-19. - Team cooperation and communication. - Correct use of PPE.
All 69 simulations were conducted in situ so the staff could get familiar with their new clinical setting, archive a mutual communication strategy and help redefining safety among the staff.
Results
Subsequently four random healthcare professionals from each Covid-19 ward participated in a qualitative focus group interview. Each group interview lasted about 90 minutes, were sound recorded and three researchers captured the themes emerging from the data.
Our research show that several participants reported feelings of fear, anxiety and chaos related to the involvement in the covid-19 response. The interviews shoved that in situ simulation could not change the feeling of chaos due to the major organizational changes, but all the participants reported high quality learning from the simulation. Most importantly, the findings showed how in situ simulation generated a feeling of safety. Based upon the personal and joint experience with PPE, experience gained during team training and an important demystification regarding the treatment of patients with this new unknown virus.
Conclusion
Describe your conclusions, how the findings/results of the project do/do not support the original hypothesis/research question/objective for the project, and the resulting implications for the healthcare simulation community. Do NOT use a table in this section. The conclusion should be a narrative summary of the results and findings. If your work it not yet complete, please provide anticipated results. (max 1000 characters)
It cannot be neglected that Covid-19 generates fear and anxiety among healthcare professionals and further negative consequences of the emotional strain will probably emerge. The important lesson from this study is that in situ simulation can be used to redefine safety among healthcare professionals and to incorporate in situ simulation in the early stages of a pandemic response will be recommended.
| Translated title of the contribution | Simulation kan anvendes til at reducere oplevelsen af frygt og bekymringer blandt sundhedsprofessionelle, under COVID-19 pandemien. |
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| Original language | English |
| Publication date | 28 Jan 2021 |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Jan 2021 |
| Event | International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare - Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, United States Duration: 15 Jan 2022 → 19 Jan 2022 https://imsh2022.org/ |
Conference
| Conference | International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare |
|---|---|
| Location | Los Angeles Convention Center |
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Period | 15/01/2022 → 19/01/2022 |
| Internet address |