Teaching End-of-Life Care Using Interprofessional Simulation

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Simulation
• End-of-Life Care

Background:

• End-of-life (EOL) care competency is increasingly vital for health professions students.
• This study addresses the need to evaluate effective EOL care training methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of high-fidelity simulation scenarios on pharmacy and nursing students' perceived learning needs and attitudes regarding EOL care.
• To compare the effectiveness of simulation-based EOL training with traditional classroom methods.

Main Methods:

• Four EOL care scenarios were utilized, with three campuses using paper-based case studies and one campus employing high-fidelity simulation.
• Participants included 158 pharmacy students and a smaller group of 8 graduate nursing and 37 graduate pharmacy students in the simulation group.
• The End of Life Professional Caregiver Survey was administered pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Both paper-based and simulation groups showed pre-post changes in EOL care attitudes.
• The simulation group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in pre-post survey scores compared to the paper-based groups.
• Specific attitudinal shifts were observed in students who underwent simulation-based EOL training.

Conclusions:

• High-fidelity simulation offers a more impactful approach to enhancing student attitudes toward EOL care than traditional classroom settings.
• Simulation-based learning can effectively address the growing need for EOL care competency among future healthcare professionals.
• Further integration of simulation in health professions education is recommended for EOL care training.