International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background:

The development of the Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) framework at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals began in 2017. There are now 13 non-medical consultants, 73 Qualified Advanced and Specialist Clinical Practitioners, and 25 trainee ACP’s across the organisation. Part of the competency framework included the ability to manage common medical emergencies that are not necessarily a routine part of that ACP’s case load, for example managing a patient with chest pain on a surgical ward or assessing a ward patient following a fall.

Methods:

A one-day simulation-based course was developed to allow ACP’s to manage patients with these conditions in a safe and supportive environment. The day includes a lecture introducing human factors and decision-making theories, followed by six scenarios with debriefing facilitated by senior faculty to discuss learning points with the group. Scenarios were designed in line with ASPiH standards [1] to include clinical competencies which are not common-place in the trainee’s current working environments, giving them a chance to undertake the management of these rarer occurrences in a safe and controlled environment.

Results:

Feedback was collected using anonymous self-scoring feedback forms and was overwhelmingly positive, with candidates feeling more confident in managing these clinical scenarios in practice. All candidates felt the scenarios were pitched to the correct level. Written feedback also highlighted how beneficial it was to get together as a group for shared learning across different directorates.

Conclusion:

Simulation-based learning can improve the confidence of ACP’s in managing unfamiliar clinical emergencies. In future courses will be advertised and opened to ACP’s from other Trust’s to allow further discussion.

Reference

1. Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare. Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare. 2016. Standards Framework and Guidance. Association for simulated practice in healthcare (ASPiH) standards for simulation-based education. https://aspih.org.uk/standards-framework-for-sbe/ [Accessed on 26/06/2022]