International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background and aim:

In a number of medical schools, students often feel unprepared to manage acutely unwell trauma patients, with a majority of students reporting they had received less than five hours of trauma-based teaching and clinical skills exposure [1]. Despite the lack of previous training, newly graduated doctors are often one of the first professionals to initiate assessment and management of trauma patients on arrival to hospital [2].

Our scenario design aims to help both medical and nursing students gain experience of multiple trauma patients in a simulated environment. We wished to incorporate the skills of prioritization, leadership, role allocation and delegation whilst also covering some technical skills of trauma management. This scenario aims to simulate a high-pressure, busy clinical environment where students can practise the management of patients requiring immediate care in a resuscitation room setting.

Activity:

The students were briefed collectively for the multiple trauma simulation, as if there were a ‘stand-by call’ as a pre-alert from the ambulance crew. The students were informed that there was a nearby road traffic accident and there would be three casualties arriving: a patient with a head injury who was on an anticoagulant, a patient who had a chest wall injury and a patient who had suffered burns at the scene. They were allocated 5-10 minutes to assist with assigning roles and identifying how they planned to divide up tasks before starting the simulation. The initial assessment and management plans were commenced by the students, and a member of the faculty team would come in around half-way through as a ‘senior emergency physician’, who could offer advice and guidance.

Findings:

Verbal and written feedback collected from both medical and nursing students was positive, with many stating that they felt their teamwork and leadership abilities had been enhanced. Multiple people commented on the impact of clear communication, task delegation and leadership on the outcome of the scenario. Several students also commented on the positive impact of multidisciplinary working by combining both medical and nursing students for simulation training, and felt they had a greater appreciation and understanding of each other’s roles.

Conclusion:

Students felt that their confidence in both technical and non-technical skills had improved as a result of participating in the scenario, and many felt they had learnt valuable leadership and teamwork abilities.

Ethics statement:

Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.