Does Simulation Scenario Execution Improve Acute Care Skills and Confidence Related to Maternal and Pediatric Care Emergencies? (SimForLife)

Impact of Simulation Scenario Execution on Acute Care Skills and Confidence Related to Maternal and Pediatric Care Emergencies Among Pre-service Health Professional Trainees in Uganda

In Uganda and many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, health providers have minimal training and intermittent opportunity to maintain skills in managing delivery complications and acute newborn and pediatric conditions. Interventions like effective resuscitation assistance at the time of birth are lifesaving. Every 30 second delay in establishing effective resuscitation at birth increases the risk of death by 16%. The purpose of this study is to test whether medical simulation can improve acute care skills and confidence related to maternal and pediatric care emergencies.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Maternal, Pediatric Care Emergencies
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Medical simulation using scenario execution

Detailed Description

In Uganda and many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, health providers have minimal training and intermittent opportunity to maintain skills in managing delivery complications and acute newborn and pediatric conditions. Interventions like effective resuscitation assistance at the time of birth are lifesaving. Every 30 second delay in establishing effective resuscitation at birth increases the risk of death by 16%. The purpose of this study is to test whether medical simulation can improve acute care skills and confidence related to maternal and pediatric care emergencies.

A solid body of evidence now supports simulation-based learning as superior to didactic teaching and problem-based learning for the acquisition of critical assessment and management skills, particularly for clinical emergencies. Simulation-based training promotes skill acquisition and retention, enhances teamwork, and increases knowledge and understanding of key procedures. Simulation-based learning is now the norm in medical, nursing and paramedical training in most high income settings. There remains a critical need to operationalize simulation-based learning in resource-constrained settings

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Uganda
  • Mbarara, Uganda, 256
    • Mbarara University of Science and Technology

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants are medical and nursing students in active clinical rotation; third and fifth year medical students and third and fourth year nursing students at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exclude medical and nursing students in the pre-clinical years and those in non-clinical rotations at the time of the intervention.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: OTHER
• Allocation: NA
• Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL: Medical simulation using scenarion execution; Study participants will be exposed to medical simulation using scenario execution. In this exercise, participants will be exposed to a scenario that simulates a medical emergency. They will be required to respond. Following their response, the participants will have a chance to share with the investigators their experiences and what they have learnt from the exposure in a debriefing session. The investigator will then provide feedback on their performance.

Other: Medical simulation using scenario execution; Each team of students will be exposed to simulation two times in a semester totaling to four times a year. In a scenario execution, participants are placed in a simulated experience of a medical emergency. Participants are required to respond and their reactions are observed by the investigators. After the experience, participants will have a debriefing session to learn from their experience of handling this emergency.; Other Names: medical simulation methodology

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Skills using the Scenario-execution-group test score	This is a scenario specific score obtained from a multiple choice question (MCQ) test following execution of the scenario to measure. The MCQs are standard questions developed to accompany a given scenario. The maximum score is 100%. A scenario-execution-group test score of less than 60% will be a fail and a score of more than or equal to 60% will be a pass.	Immediately Post scenario execution

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Knowledge	Knowledge will be measured using multiple choice questions (MCQs) and Investigators will use the Retrospective pre-post survey (RPP survey) to assess performance confidence among participants. In the RPP, the participant is asked to compare their performance after the intervention with that before the intervention. This assessment removes the bias of over or underestimating how much the participant knew before the intervention.	Change in knowledge scores at 4 months from Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mbarara University of Science and Technology
• Collaborators: University of Calgary

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): August 30, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): August 30, 2019
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): December 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 14, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 19, 2017
• First Posted (ACTUAL): August 23, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): April 20, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2021
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: newborn; medical simulation; resuscitation; maternal; emergencies
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: MUST 21/06-16b

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: Data to be shared when necessary permissions have been obtained

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No