#SimBlog: PEST Sim Day (2015)
“Distraught parents, paramedics on the edge, sick neonates, oversized teenage trauma victims… our latest paediatric simulation day had it all!”
We took a group of both adult and paediatric nursing and medical staff from the ED to our local clinical skills unit for a full day of simulation. Thanks to Team PED and UHL Clinical Skills Unit for a fantastic day and to all the participants for their enthusiasm. Although the focus was on team working and human factors, the cases provided some pertinent reminders about the clinical medicine.
Select below for a summary of each simulation run on the day, what we did and what we learned:
Key take-home messages
Communication is vital for effective teamwork. Verbalising your thoughts helps keep the team focussed and ensure everyone is working towards the same goals. Many staff members still feel uncomfortable when challenging others, especially senior clinicians.
All staff should be empowered to speak up if they have any concerns about a patient or situation. Various strategies are available to allow concerns to be raised in a non-confrontational manner and alleviate the fear surrounding speaking out e.g. graded assertiveness.
Further Reading:
- Life In The Fast Lane: Communication in a Crisis
Participant thoughts…
“I think my communication is something that I could definitely improve and today has given me a lot to think about.”
“I would recommend this day to everyone/anyone from any specialty.”
“Well organised day, enjoyable, friendly team.”
“Extremely beneficial day to join as relaxed, MDT learning environment.”
“Great to have adult nurses joining the simulation day.”
“Enhanced my experience of team working and working as a team in the Resus situation.”
Edit & Peer Review by Jamie Sillett
The next PEST Sim Day will run: 22/4/2016
