Globally, it is estimated that medical errors result in approximately 1.2 million deaths, every year. The World Health Organization has published a report suggesting that harm from medical care poses a substantial burden in terms of morbidity and mortality on people around the world.
Harmed while receiving healthcare
Annual patient safety incidents
Annual cost due to medication errors
One of the biggest challenges for improving patient safety is the opportunity to practice. Clinical placement opportunities, especially within nurse education, are becoming increasingly limited as the demand for healthcare workers increases due to aging populations.
Not only is the opportunity for practice essential, but also the ability to practice safely without putting patients at risk. Simulation-based training allows students, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers to integrate cognitive learning with hands-on skills practice without risk to patients.
Reducing medical errors and improving patient safety are essential elements of patient care, but not the only ones. Providing optimal patient care also includes uncovering latent safety threats, facilitating teamwork and communication, and ensuring professional competency is not only maintained, but improved.
The methodology of simulation education has gained widespread recognition within the field of healthcare as a powerful tool for reinforcing clinical knowledge, improving team communication, and teaching decision-making skills. Simulation is an educational methodology, not a technology. Simulation can be used not only to teach clinical skills, but also teamwork and communication. It can also be used to standardize training, meet evidence-based guidelines, and target specific goals. There is a shift in mindset from what simulation can do to how simulation can be best used to improve patient care.
Healthcare training has traditionally relied on a “see one, do one” approach to teaching. Teaching in this context focuses on imparting knowledge. Simulation-based training makes that knowledge come alive—alive in a setting designed to imitate real clinical encounters and lifelike experiences where clinicians can refine their individual and team skills without posing risk to real patients.
