Simulation-based medical training for paediatric residents in Italy: a nationwide survey

Abstract

Background A prompt start to an appropriate neonatal and paediatric resuscitation is critical to reduce mortality and morbidity. However, residents are rarely exposed to real emergency situations. Simulation-based medical training (SBMT) offers the opportunity to improve medical and non-technical skills in a controlled setting. This survey describes the availability and current use of SBMT by paediatric residents in Italy with the purpose of understanding residents’ expectations regarding neonatal and paediatric emergency training, and identifying gaps and potential areas for future implementation. Methods A survey was developed and distributed to Italian residents. SBMT was defined as any kind of training with a mannequin in a contextualised clinically realistic scenario. Results The response rate was 14.4%, covering the 71% of Italian paediatric residency programmes. Out of the 274 residents, 88% stated that they received less than 5 h of SBMT during the past training year, with 66% not participating in any kind of simulation activity. In 62% of the programmes no simulation training facility was available to residents. Among those who received SBMT, 46% used it for procedures and skills, 30% for clinical scenarios, but only 24% of them reported a regular use for debriefing. Of the overall respondents, 93% were interested in receiving SBMT to improve decision-making abilities in complex medical situations, to improve technical/procedural skills, and to improve overall competency in neonatal and paediatric emergencies, including non-technical skills. The main barriers to the implementation of SBMT programmes in Italian paediatric residencies were: the lack of experts (57%), the lack of support from the school director (56%), the lack of organisation in planning simulation centre courses (42%) and the lack of teaching materials (42%). Conclusions This survey shows the scarce use of SBMT during paediatric training programmes in Italy and points out the main limitations to its diffusion. This is a call to action to develop organised SBMT during paediatric residency programs, to train qualified personnel, and to improve the quality of education and care in this field. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-019-1581-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The RETAIN Simulation-Based Serious Game—A Review of the Literature

“…First, while NRP certification requires simulation training only once every two years, HCPs experience significant decay in neonatal resuscitation competence, as soon as three months after training [6]. Frequent refresher sessions are needed to maintain HCPs' knowledge and skills; however, traditional simulation can be prohibitively expensive, inconvenient to arrange, and potentially unstructured [7,8]. Furthermore, the robust assessment of HCPs' preparedness to attend the NRP course, and evaluation of their neonatal resuscitation competence after attending the NRP course is currently lacking [2].…”

Management of a suspected case of 2019 novel coronavirus infection in a 4‐year old child: A simulation scenario

“…Finally, we aimed to provide a good‐judgmental and non‐threatening learning environment, in order to reduce residents' anxieties and stress and to encourage sharing of thought and ideas. Indeed, it is known that residents' engagement and interest in simulation education is high, particularly because simulation could represent the way to move from a culture of blame around an error to a new culture of safety, where errors are disclosed in the debriefing 7,8 …”

“…Indeed, it is known that residents' engagement and interest in simulation education is high, particularly because simulation could represent the way to move from a culture of blame around an error to a new culture of safety, where errors are disclosed in the debriefing. 7,8 In conclusion, this scenario aims at providing a holistic training exercise to prepare paediatric residents and physicians for practice in the challenging settings of COVID-19 outbreak but can be easily used for any highly contagious respiratory disease training.…”

The effectiveness of emergency knowledge training of pediatric medical workers based on the knowledge, skills, simulation model: a quasi-experimental study

“…But our KSS model avoids this problem. The knowledge, skills, simulation (KSS) model is similar to simulation-based medical training (SBMT) and has been defined as “the artificial representation of a complex real-world process with sufficient fidelity” [ 19 ]. In the training, we implement long-term centralized scenario simulation, establish theoretical schemata through preliminary knowledge training, and finally consolidate the effect through face-to-face skill practice.…”