Using Simulation With Deliberate Practice to Improve Pediatric ICU Nurses' Knowledge, Clinical Teamwork, and...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Critical Care Nursing Education
• Healthcare Simulation and Patient Safety
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare

Background:

• Novice nurses in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) require enhanced crisis management skills for low-frequency, high-impact events.
• Traditional training may not adequately prepare nurses for the complexities of critical pediatric emergencies.
• Simulation-based education offers a controlled environment for skill development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate an educational intervention using High-Fidelity Simulation (HFS) with deliberate practice.
• To improve crisis management skills among PICU nurses with less than two years of experience.
• To enhance nurses' preparedness for managing low-frequency, high-impact events.

Main Methods:

• Conducted four interprofessional HFS sessions using scenarios based on Pediatric Advanced Life Support algorithms.
• Included 24 PICU nurses with less than two years of experience.
• Measured knowledge, confidence (pre-, 1-week post-, 1-month post-simulation), and clinical teamwork performance (during simulations).

Main Results:

• Significant improvements observed in knowledge, confidence, and clinical teamwork performance post-simulation.
• Confidence scores demonstrated the most substantial increase among measured outcomes.
• The intervention effectively enhanced participants' ability to manage critical events.

Conclusions:

• Regular HFS with deliberate practice is effective in improving PICU nurses' knowledge and skills for critical event management.
• Simulation training enhances nursing confidence and teamwork in high-stakes pediatric critical care scenarios.
• This approach is particularly beneficial for novice nurses, potentially improving patient outcomes.