Development of an Instrument to Assess the Clinical Effectiveness of the Debriefer in Simulation Education

Simulation education continues to increase in all healthcare curriculums. Measuring how well faculty conduct debriefing sessions within the context of the learning objectives and defined pedagogy of a specific simulation is vital and deficient. The purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument to assess a debriefer's ability to effectively conduct a debriefing session to evaluate and demonstrate teaching effectiveness and excellence. The instrument, Peer Assessment of Debriefing Instrument (PADI), was developed using a traditional peer-review framework. Using the Delphi technique, an expert panel (n=11) completed an electronic survey and used a 4-point Likert scale to rate the PADI on clarity and understandability. In round III, a consensus >80% was achieved for both structural and content elements. Results revealed that the PADI was a valid and reliability instrument to provide a peer review of the debriefing process across healthcare disciplines. The inter-rater reliability for the average measures was very strong, with interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.973, and for the single measure was strong, ICC = 0.818. The PADI provides both novice and experienced debriefers with an objective and formative means of performing self-assessment and receiving peer feedback on a debriefing experience.