Event Title
End of Life Simulation of Therapeutic Communication and Care Using Standard Patients and SimMan®
Location
Steelcase Lecture Hall
Description
INTRODUCTION: Practicing nurses report that they have received very little undergraduate education in palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care. Clinical simulation can provide the student insights into elements of care that provide the most emotional distress for students: emotional support to patients who are dying (and their families), physical care, and postmortem care. Our purpose was to provide students with a risk-free learning environment to observe and then anticipate in an EOL scenario using one standard patient and SimMan®. METHODS: Using AACN and ELNEC competencies and course outcomes as a guide, we conducted a live simulation of therapeutic EOL communication with standard patients, and simulation of an actively dying patient, using one standard patient and SimMan®. A doctor of nursing (DNP) student taped an interview of a standard patient couple processing the recent bad news of a terminal diagnosis. Students interviewed the standard patients after viewing the video, discussing which communication techniques were helpful. Three weeks later, the patient (now SimMan®) was readmitted to our simulation lab with his standard patient wife, and students were invited to participate in the care of the patient and his family while he died. RESULTS: Students were reticent to volunteer to participate in the death simulation. During the debriefing with the class, barriers to participating in the simulation, given the safe environment, were discussed. Feedback included discomfort with caring for the dying without more experience. CONCLUSIONS: This simulation underscored the need for further education for undergraduate nurses in palliative and EOL care.
End of Life Simulation of Therapeutic Communication and Care Using Standard Patients and SimMan®
Steelcase Lecture Hall
INTRODUCTION: Practicing nurses report that they have received very little undergraduate education in palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care. Clinical simulation can provide the student insights into elements of care that provide the most emotional distress for students: emotional support to patients who are dying (and their families), physical care, and postmortem care. Our purpose was to provide students with a risk-free learning environment to observe and then anticipate in an EOL scenario using one standard patient and SimMan®. METHODS: Using AACN and ELNEC competencies and course outcomes as a guide, we conducted a live simulation of therapeutic EOL communication with standard patients, and simulation of an actively dying patient, using one standard patient and SimMan®. A doctor of nursing (DNP) student taped an interview of a standard patient couple processing the recent bad news of a terminal diagnosis. Students interviewed the standard patients after viewing the video, discussing which communication techniques were helpful. Three weeks later, the patient (now SimMan®) was readmitted to our simulation lab with his standard patient wife, and students were invited to participate in the care of the patient and his family while he died. RESULTS: Students were reticent to volunteer to participate in the death simulation. During the debriefing with the class, barriers to participating in the simulation, given the safe environment, were discussed. Feedback included discomfort with caring for the dying without more experience. CONCLUSIONS: This simulation underscored the need for further education for undergraduate nurses in palliative and EOL care.