International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Introduction:

The role of the nurse associate, despite being a relatively new one [1], faces several challenges regarding hands-on clinical care. The Clinical Simulation Course for Nurse Associates (NA) was developed as a new one-day simulation course aimed at Nurse associates delivering clinical care to provide them an opportunity to enhance their skills. The course’s main goals are to increase knowledge and confidence in applying a range of skills including assessment and management of risk, teamwork and professional collaboration, effective communication and de-escalation skills, and most importantly the role of human factors in delivering effective patient care in a range of clinical settings. Participants were involved in a series of four scenarios using professional actors, followed by debriefing and a didactic presentation on scenario-specific topics.

Methods:

The participants were asked to complete two scales, pre- and post-course: (1) the Human Factor Skills for Healthcare Instrument (HFSHI) [2], measuring self-efficacy in human factors skills, and (2) a scale developed for this study, the Course Specific Question Scale (CSQ), to measure changes in knowledge, skills, and confidence on course-specific learning objectives.

Results:

Paired samples t-tests were conducted to analyze the difference in ratings between the pre- and post-course questionnaires. Scores on the HFSHI showed a significant increase (M=92.23) and post-course (M=108.81), t(12)=4.50, p<.001, 95% CI [0.500, 1.968], with an effect size of d=1.25.

Scores on the CSQ did show statically significant increase between the pre- (M=37.92) and post-course (M=42.25) t(11)=3.096, p=.01, 95% CI [0.204, 1.555], with an effect size of d=0.89.

Conclusion:

The innovative Clinical Simulation Course for Nurse Associates course is effective in improving knowledge and confidence to help Nurse Associates deal with patients in clinical settings. These results demonstrate benefit in widespread areas such as improving interpersonal and de-escalation skills, recognition of and response to domestic abuse victims and escalation of safeguarding concerns, collaborating across the multidisciplinary teams, being aware of the role of the confidentiality policies in patient safety, using effective communications skills to engage with patients regarding improvement of physical and mental health, and understanding the role of human factors in delivery effective care to patients. Hence, this course can complement future placements and other educational settings to provide valuable clinical experience and prepare NA for their role.

Reference

1. King R, Ryan T, Wood E, Tod A, Robertson S. Motivations, experiences and aspirations of trainee nursing associates in England: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research. 2020;20(1):1–0.

2. Reedy GB, Lavelle M, Simpson T, Anderson JE. Development of the Human Factors Skills for Healthcare Instrument: a valid and reliable tool for assessing interprofessional learning across healthcare practice settings. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning. 2017;3(4):135–141