International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background:

Previous research has described the importance of debriefing in Simulation-Based Medical Education; it is considered the most critical part of the teaching experience ^[1]. It is a skill requiring practice and poorly structured debriefs can harm candidates ^[1]. There are few formal debriefing courses available to aspiring faculty members; they are often oversubscribed.

Aim:

The aim of this work was to develop an inter-professional faculty with a variety of backgrounds to assist on an inter-professional nursing-medical simulation course in Emergency Medicine. A further aim was to develop a novel formal debrief for the debriefer to help improve confidence in this skill.

Method:

A variety of professionals were invited to attend the course as faculty. Following their debrief of the scenario, the debriefer was invited to discuss their opinion on how they managed the debrief, from room set up to structure used. Troubleshooting advice was offered and an action plan was put in place for next steps of development. Faculty members were asked to complete a formal feedback form at the end of the session.

Results:

Inter-professional faculty members included Emergency Medicine consultants, trainees and clinical fellows, simulation technicians, emergency medicine nursing staff and resuscitation officers. 75% of faculty members had attended <5 simulation courses as faculty prior to this session. 81% of faculty members scored 4 and 5/5 for feeling confident at debriefing as a result of the session. 100% scored 4 and 5/5 for feeling supported during their debrief. 100% felt that the session had improved their debriefing skills. 87.5% felt appropriately challenged as a faculty member. 100% were willing to attend the course again in the future. Free-text comments included the best part of the day was ‘Personally observing and practicing debrief, brief and debrief of my debrief’, ‘Supportive atmosphere for faculty’ and ‘Debrief learning points’.

Implications for practice:

Overall, faculty members from varying clinical and simulation backgrounds were supported throughout the day and as a result were more confident in their debriefing abilities following the session. Future work aims to continue this incremental learning to allow all faculty members to feel confident and able to ‘debrief the debriefer’. This will ensure the quality of the debrief for learners, maximizing the impact of simulation-based medical education.