SimScreen® Applications
Educational Training
5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be In Your Simulation Lab
With Your Students
You may think that being in the simulation lab with your students facilitates hands on learning, but research shows that by removing yourself from the room, it actually produces a more capable healthcare professional.
1. Minimize the Observer Effect
The presence of an instructor in the simulation room provides cues and guidance to students through body language and unintentional behaviors. This occurs subconsciously even if the instructor makes every effort to remain a neutral observer. Students instinctively look to the instructor to determine their best course of action rather than using their own critical thinking skills. This eliminates the students’ opportunity to realize how their clinical decisions affect the patient outcomes. The presence of the instructor in the room often increases student anxiety during simulations, further reducing critical thinking and decision-making skills. SimScreen® removes the instructor from the room and provides students with the opportunity to function independently throughout the simulation. The two-way mirror allows instructors to discreetly observe the simulation while the students concentrate on the care of the patient.
2. Promote Critical Thinking and Independent Decision-Making
Simulations in healthcare education are intended to provide students the opportunity for independent critical thinking and clinical decision-making without any risk to patients. Simulations allow students to perform their own assessments, decide on a plan of care and implement their chosen interventions, just as they will do in the clinical setting. During simulation, students can see how each of their actions and decisions affect patient outcomes without causing injury or harm to an actual patient. The critical thinking skills formed during simulation and education will fuel the future generation of healthcare professionals.
3. Suspend Disbelief for Immersion in the Simulation Experience
Instructors must work to suspend students’ disbelief and help engage fully throughout the simulation experience. This is done through a realistic patient care environment with equipment, supplies, moulage and sounds. The presence of an instructor negates this fiction and prevents students from seeing themselves as healthcare providers capable of making decisions for the patient during the simulation. The more realistic scenario and environment, the more prepared your students will be.
4. Minimize the Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne effect occurs when participants in an activity or study behave differently because they realize that they are being observed. The participants are motivated to achieve the desired results.The Hawthorne effect leads students to impress the instructor rather than actively engaging in the simulation for the sake of learning and clinical practice. This prevents instructors from accurately evaluating student performance.
5. Make the Best Use of Space in the Learning Lab
Many skills labs feature large open spaces with multiple patient care and exam areas. This allows for great flexibility but presents difficulty for simulation activities due to lack of dedicated control room space. SimScreen can help instructors effectively facilitate simulations in almost any lab space by creating portable, cost-efficient control rooms.
What You Can Do:
Remove yourself from the skills lab by observing behind a barrier. The SimScreen® was invented to enable students to focus on the patient scenario rather than the instructor evaluating the simulation. The SimScreen, a portable two-way mirror, allows instructors to observe students in practice while giving the students the freedom to make their own decisions regarding the patient’s care. Various SimScreen® configurations allow instructors to effectively run simulations in any room without costly renovations.
