International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background:

Simulation technicians are a vital part of simulation teams and facilitating simulation sessions. Additionally, they help to materialize the educators’ vision [1]. There is a gap between what educators expect from technicians and how well technical staff perform based on the instructions given. To support simulation-based education understanding of the educational philosophy underpinning simulation processes used by educators would improve and enhance the abilities of the technician. A survey-based review recommended exploring opportunities that simulation technicians have and to create more opportunities for technicians to get involved [2]. Not having sufficient knowledge and understanding can impact on the overall preparation and requirements from the technician. Full understanding between instructional and educational principles will close the gap and allow simulation technicians to have a deeper role and active part of simulation-based education. This allows simulation technicians to go beyond the technical skills and technical terminology especially for those whose background is non-clinical. The overall aim is to explore what opportunities simulation technicians have to participate in educational simulation events to enhance their knowledge, skills, and effectiveness of their role.

Methods:

Interestingly the Society in Europe for Simulation Applied to Medicine (SESAM) 2022 conference was attended by 607 delegates from 51 countries with only 36 simulation technicians attending. This meant that only 6% of the delegates were Simulation Technicians compared to other professionals, which is a small number. This data was never previously collected by SESAM so we do not know if this number has changed over the years [3].

Results:

The study is presently being submitted for ethical approval. It is the expectation that the data will be collected and analysed upon receiving the ethical approval.

Conclusion:

We will gain new understanding from the technicians’ perspective on the attendance at simulation-based educational events from the Simulation Technicians network across the United Kingdom. It will help us identify how often simulation technicians attend and what benefits there were to this continual professional development opportunity. Simulation technicians should have more opportunities to participate in conferences and educational events. This will close the technicians-educators’ educational gap and allow them to have a more meaningful part within the simulation community, resulting in more equity, parity, and diversity.

References

1. Bailey R, Taylor R, FitzGerald M, Kerrey B, LeMaster T, Geis G. Defining the Simulation Technician Role. Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. 2015;10(5):283–287.

2. Nicklin J. Review of Clinical Skills and Simulation Technicians/Technologists in the UK: Results of a Survey-Based Study. Aspih.org.uk. 2016. http://aspih.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/results-of-a-survey-based-study-jnicklin-2016.pdf [Accessed on 28/06/2022]

3. SESAM personal communication by email 27/06/2022