Simulated Patient Environment: A Training Tool for Healthcare Professionals in COVID-19 Era

An in-situ simulation model with a simulated patient environment is a training tool that was implemented for the front-line workers managing COVID-19 respiratory infection outbreak in a hospital of National Importance, situated in southern part of India. The objective of this training tool was to improve the preparedness of health care workers and the control measures to manage any respiratory infection outbreaks. Also, to provide good patient care and patient safety during the sudden outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen causing pandemic respiratory infection outbreak worldwide.

Simulated patient environment is a kind of functional mock drill that was applied to assess and improve the readiness of the healthcare workers of the hospital to identify the patient at the screening area, guide the patient for investigation and inform the public health system during an outbreak of an infection. The faculty of the Department of Microbiology, Community and Family Medicine, and General Medicine were the educators and demonstrators. Fifty healthcare workers from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Mangalagiri, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, such as doctors, epidemiologists, nurses, laboratory technicians, laboratory attendants, members of infection control team and biomedical waste management team participated in this program.

Statistical analysis of the results with pre-intervention and post-intervention assessments and feedback from the participants was done at the end of the program. The difference between the mean of pre-intervention and post-intervention scores in doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals was statistically very highly significant (P-value <0.001).

The training method was the simulation of management of pandemic respiratory infection outbreaks in the most realistic manner possible to test or evaluate the capability of more than one function in the context of an emergency event. An in-situ simulation is an effective method that is close to real-life scenario, to measure the readiness and effectiveness of an emergency response plan. Hence, it is a useful tool to assess disaster preparedness against any type of outbreak.