Innovative teaching in situational awareness

In the UK the publication of the Health Select Committee Report highlighted the need to incorporate human factors training in health care education. In response there has been a rise in health care professional training in human factors, focusing on non-technical skills, such as teamwork, leadership and situational awareness.

Using simulation and contextualised learning, we have developed a non-technical skills programme for undergraduate medical students that introduces situational awareness training in the first year. Early integration of human factors into the undergraduate programme can be built upon in a constructivist approach throughout the undergraduate curriculum. Initially no formal ethical approval was required as this was an integral part of the undergraduate teaching programme and did not involve patients; however, ethical approval was gained for the analyses of this session from the local University Research Ethics Committee. Approval included the information sheets and consent forms provided to students, which permitted use of data 'in future posters/publications/presentations'.

Students were introduced to hazards and cues that they may find in clinical areas, encouraged to explore the simulated clinical areas gathering information, interpret their findings and then consider future states. There has been a rise in health care professional training in human factors, focusing on non-technical skills

Initial feedback from both the students and the tutors involved has been positive. In addition, the opportunity for linking this to other non-technical skills developments in different clinical settings and in interprofessional settings is being considered. The next stage is to explore students' perceptions of this session and their learning through questionnaires and focus-group interviews before developing further.