Simulation provides additional benefits that can improve clinical care. Debriefing simulations provides opportunities to learn debriefing skills that can be applied to actual clinical events. Debriefing sessions may be “hot,” consisting of short discussions immediately after a clinical event, or “cold,” consisting of reviews that occur after a period of reflection.
Cold debriefings may be regularly scheduled (e.g., monthly) and may include additional investigation or followup related to the patient care event. Lessons can be learned from thoughtful review of patient care events that were successful, as well as those that were not.
Simulation to decrease “door-to-needle” time for thrombolysis from a median of 27 to 13 minutes in patients suspected of having strokes
Times remained consistent at reevaluation in 13 months: Using a series of simulations, a hospital improved their management of patients with possible acute strokes. Improvements were based on bringing patients directly to the computed tomography scanner for preliminary assessment, providing interventions in that location, and refining the team’s shared mental model, thereby expediting treatment.
Of note, actual previous stroke patients participated as the simulated patients and provided input from the patient’s perspective, such as recommending that preparatory information be provided to patients during transport to the hospital.28
The affective lessons learned in simulation can also benefit your organization’s culture of safety and potentially provider well-being.29 Several different approaches are available to conduct debriefings, but most include respectful curiosity and attention to psychological safety. Cultivating supportive team behaviors in simulation helps to cultivate supportive behavior in clinical care.
