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

Abstract

Background: Each year, over 13 million babies worldwide need help to breathe at birth. While guidelines recommend the Neonatal Resuscitation Program course, medical errors remain common. Frequent simulation training and assessment is needed to address this competence gap; however, alternative approaches are needed to overcome barriers to access. The RETAIN (REsuscitation TrAINing) simulation-based serious game (Retain Labs Medical Inc., Edmonton, AB, Canada) may provide a solution to supplement traditional training. This paper aims to review the available evidence about RETAIN for improving neonatal resuscitation education. Method: Literature searches of PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases were performed to identify studies examining the RETAIN serious game for neonatal resuscitation training. All of the studies describing the RETAIN board game and computer game were included. Results: Three papers and one conference proceeding were identified. Two studies described the RETAIN board game, and two studies described the RETAIN computer game. RETAIN was reported as usable and clinically relevant. RETAIN also improved knowledge of neonatal resuscitation by 12% and functioned as a summative assessment. Further, performance on RETAIN was moderated by players' self-reported mindset. Conclusion: RETAIN can be used for the training and assessment of experienced neonatal resuscitation providers. Further studies are needed to understand the effectiveness of RETAIN to (i) improve other cognitive and non-cognitive skills, (ii) in diverse populations of neonatal resuscitation providers, (iii) in comparison to current standard training approaches, and (iv) in improving clinical outcomes in the delivery room.

Digital Simulation Improves, Maintains, and Helps Transfer Health-Care Providers' Neonatal Resuscitation Knowledge

“…Appropriate actions improve the infant's health, whereas inappropriate actions cause the infant's health to worsen. To improve realism, information from the delivery room was incorporated, including the average time taken to complete each available action (e.g., the time needed to attach a pulse oximeter), and all scenarios are based on information recorded during real deliveries from the Royal Alexandra Hospital (Edmonton, Canada) ( 11 ).…”

Health Care Providers’ Performance, Mindset, and Attitudes Toward a Neonatal Resuscitation Computer-Based Simulator: Empirical Study

“…The game took an average of 8.47 minutes to play. More details about this game are presented in previous studies [ 24 , 25 , 34 ]. Learning analytics regarding participants’ performance and behaviors were tracked within the computer-game simulator.…”

Unsupervised Machine Learning Algorithms Examine Healthcare Providers' Perceptions and Longitudinal Performance in a Digital Neonatal Resuscitation Simulator

“…The study was conducted based on the RETAIN (REsuscitation TrAINing for healthcare professionals) digital simulator at the simulation lab at the Centre for the Studies of Asphyxia and Resuscitation ( http://retainlabsmedical.com/index.html , RETAIN Labs Medical Inc. Edmonton, Canada). RETAIN was designed for HCPs to help practice their knowledge of neonatal resuscitation through digital and tabletop simulators ( 37 ). In RETAIN, participants are asked to assume the role of an HCP and to perform interventions using the given tools, including action cards, adjustable monitors, and equipment pieces, during simulated neonatal resuscitation scenarios.…”