Factors associated with interprofessional engagement in debriefing following pediatric simulation-based team training

ABSTRACT

Simulation offers a high fidelity modality to deliver and study team-based interprofessional education. Debriefing the following simulated scenarios is a critical component of this training. Little data exist to inform best practices to optimize interprofessional engagement during debriefing. This pilot study analyzed interprofessional debriefing events following 20 pediatric simulation-based team trainings to identify associations between modifiable factors and learner engagement. Reviewers observed a total of 236 learners, using a previously published tool to assess learner engagement. Data related to the scenario, debriefing, learners, and facilitators were collected. Spearman’s correlation was used to analyze the association between factors of interest and average learner engagement scores for each debriefing event. Mean engagement did not differ between physicians and nurses, but was lower for other professionals. Average learner engagement was inversely related to learner group size, but not to the proportion of learners in each profession. Oral participation differed significantly between professions for both learners and co-facilitators, with physicians speaking more in both groups. Students of all professions had lower engagement and spoke less frequently. This study identifies several modifiable factors, including total group size, learner level, and facilitator behavior that were associated with interprofessional engagement during debriefing following simulation-based team training.

KEYWORDS:

• High fidelity simulation
• learner engagement
• debriefing
• interprofessional team training
• interprofessional education

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Dr. Frank Lavoie for the Medical Mutual Insurance Company of Maine MMCRI Summer Research Scholarship, and Dr. Adam Cheng, Dr. David Kessler, and the International Network for Simulation-based Pediatric Innovation, Research and Education (INSPIRE) and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the International Pediatric Simulation Society for supporting the biannual INSPIRE research meetings.

Thank you also to the other members of our Interprofessional Team Training Steering Committee: Daniel Flaherty, Jessica Miller, John Borque, Callie Chase, Lori Fielding, Chris Motyl, and Jamie Fey, and also to the team at the Hannaford Center for Simulation including: Susie Lane, Todd Dadaleares, Chris DiMasio, Tyler Johnson, Christine Mallar, Bethany Rocheleau, Erin Siebers, Christyna McCormack, Michael Shepherd, Jeffrey Holmes, Stephanie Salamone, and Mariah Wheeler.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest or financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Byrnes

Richard Byrnes, MS is a fourth year medical student at Tufts University in the Maine Track. He plans to specialize in interventional radiology and is interested in medical education, interprofessional care, and medical simulation.

Micheline Chipman

Micheline Chipman RN, MSN has over a decade of experience as a simulation nurse educator at the Hannaford Center for Safety, Innovation and Simulation and still practices as a critical care nurse at the Maine Medical Center. She is a scholar at MITE (the MMC Institute for Teaching Excellence) and is a curriculum specialist with an interest in interprofessional education and training and telesimulation.

Zachary Priest

Zachary Priest BSN, CPN is a Registered Nurse with an interest in interprofessional simulation and is enrolled in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at St. Joseph’s College.

Christine Schreiber

Christine Schreiber MSN, RN, CPN is a Clinical Nurse Educator at the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. Her academic interests include interprofessional team training, simulation education, and research.

Justin Michaud

Justin Michaud, MSN, RN, NE-BC is the Nurse Manager of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital with interests in Program Development and Interprofessional Collaboration.

Tracie Barbour

Tracie Barbour, CHSOS has been a Simulation Specialist for more than 16 years.  She began her career in California and joined Maine Medical Center’s Hannaford Center for Safety, Innovation and Simulation in 2012.  She enjoys working in all areas of simulation education including undergraduate, postgraduate and interprofessional education training.  Tracie has presented poster presentations, workshops, and been on discussion panels at simulation conferences such as the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH), Human Patient Simulation Network (HPSN) and at SimOps national simulation operations meeting.

Michael Ferguson

Michael Ferguson, MBBS is a Pediatric Intensivist and Clinical Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine who has an interest in inter-professional team training, distance simulation, and augmented reality enhanced simulation research.

Wendy Craig

Wendy Y. Craig, Ph.D. is a Research Navigator at MMCRI and a research assistant professor at Tufts University Department of Medicine.

Leah Mallory

Leah Mallory, MD is Medical Director of the Hannaford Center for Safety, Innovation and Simulation, an Attending Physician in Pediatric Hospital Medicine at the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center, and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine.  Her research interests include interprofessional team training, simulation-based clinical systems testing, simulation-based assessment and pediatric hospital to home transitions.