Status of Nordic research on simulation-based learning in healthcare: an integrative review

Non-technical skills in pre-hospital care in the Czech Republic: a prospective multicentric observational study (NTS study)

Background

Non-technical skills (NTS) are important for the proper functioning of emergency medical ambulance crews but have hardly been researched in the conditions of clinical pre-hospital care.

The primary objective of this study, therefore, is to describe the use of NTS in practice. The secondary objective is to compare if the performance of NTS varies according to the type of case.

Methods

In this multicentric observational study the modified Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM) score was used to assess the performed NTS of two or more crews on site. The evaluation consisted of leadership, teamwork and task management, rated by a field supervisor.

The study observations took place in real clinical pre-hospital emergency medical cases when two or more crews were dispatched between October 2019 and August 2020. The sample size was determined by researchers prior to the study to at least 100 evaluated events per each of the three participating emergency medical services.

The results are presented as median and interquartile range. The internal reliability, consistency and validity of test items and results were evaluated. The Kruskal–Wallis test and the post hoc Mann-Whitney U test with Bonferroni correction were used for multiple comparisons of three groups.

Results

A total of 359 events were evaluated. Surprisingly, the median value for all eight items was as high as 3.0 with a similar interquartile range of 1.0. There were no differences observed by case type (CPR vs. TRAUMA vs. MEDICAL) except from item 1. A post hoc analysis revealed that this difference is in favour of a higher rated performance of non-technical skills in CPR.

Conclusions

The overall result of the performance of non-technical skills can be regarded as very good and can serve for further evaluations. The crews achieved better parameters of NTS in leadership in resuscitation situations in comparison with general medical events.

Trial Registration

The study is registered at Clinical Trials under the ID: NCT04503369.

Simulation training and professional self-confidence: A large-scale study of third year nursing students

BACKGROUND

While hands-on training is a prerequisite for successful education of nursing students, constraints on clinical training availability and quality have increased focus on effects of in-school simulation training. However, existing research has produced inconsistent conclusions and the literature lacks high-powered evidence from controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES

To test effects of a simulation scheme on student professional self-confidence in technical and non-technical skills, as well as to investigate effects on knowledge acquisition and interaction with clinical training.

DESIGN

Field experiment, treatment is a three + two day simulation training scheme while control is a standard three hour simulation session. Self-confidence in a list of technical and non-technical skills is measured in three survey-rounds. Enriched with data on type of clinical training site and grade attainment.

SETTING

University College Copenhagen Department of Nursing, all third year students in 2019.

PARTICIPANTS

352 in cohort, out of which 316 participated and 311 answered first survey round (163 in treatment, 148 in control).

METHODS

Field experiment analyzed utilizing multivariate OLS regression analysis.

RESULTS

Students who receive increased simulation training report markedly higher levels of professional self-confidence immediately after training. This effect is double the size for confidence in technical skills, compared to non-technical skills. The effects on self-confidence in technical skills persist at the end of the following semester for those that receive low intensity clinical training. Students who receive the treatment see a small (and statistically uncertain) relative increase in grade attainment in the semester of treatment, but this difference dissipates over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Simulation training has substantial positive short-term effects for the professional self-confidence of nursing students and appears to have small positive effects on knowledge acquisition. Most of these effects are crowded out by other factors (notably intensive clinical training) over time but might have long-term positive effects for those that do not receive other intensive hands-on experiences. This is interpreted as an indication that simulation training can be used to compensate for uncertainties in providing sufficient training experiences outside of academic training.

Translatability and validation of non-technical skills scale for trauma (T-NOTECHS) for assessing simulated multi-professional trauma team resuscitations

BACKGROUND

The 5-item non-technical skills scale for trauma (T-NOTECHS) with five response categories is developed to assess non-technical skills in trauma team resuscitations. This validated instrument assesses behavioral aspects in teamwork. Outcome instruments should undergo a robust adaptation process followed by psychometric validation to maintain their measurement properties when translated into different languages. The translatability of the T-NOTECHS into a non-Anglo-Saxon language has not been thus far unraveled. The authors aimed to assess whether the T-NOTECHS would be translatable into a non-Anglo-Saxon language and to investigate its psychometric properties for simulated multi-professional trauma team resuscitations.

METHODS

The T-NOTECHS (scores: 1 = poor; 5 = excellent) was translated and cross-culturally adapted into Finnish. Data was derived from 61 real hospital trauma team resuscitation simulations with 193 multi-professional participants. Floor-ceiling effects, internal consistency, and inter-rater reliability were analyzed. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to test construct validity.

RESULTS

After pre-testing, minor changes were made to the Finnish translation of the T-NOTECHS. Mean scores of two raters were 3.76 and 4.01, respectively. The T-NOTECHS instrument showed no floor-effect either in single items or in the total score. The total score of the T-NOTECHS instrument showed a percentage of maximum scores of 1.6 and 4.9% by the Raters 1 and 2, respectively. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.70 with inter-item correlation of 0.54. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.54 and coefficient of repeatability 1.53. The T-NOTECHS loaded on one factor.

CONCLUSIONS

The T-NOTECHS translated well into a difficult non-Anglo-Saxon language. The rigorous adaptation process used here can be recommended in the translation of observational performance assessment instruments. The translated version demonstrated fair reliability and good construct validity for assessing team performance in simulated multi-professional trauma team resuscitations. The translated T-NOTECHS instrument can be used to assess the efficacy of simulated in-situ trauma team resuscitations allowing benchmarking and international collaboration.