The Integration of Quality Improvement and Health Care Simulation: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Improvement Science
• Patient Safety Research
• Medical Simulation

Background:

• Quality improvement (QI) and simulation are key strategies for enhancing patient care.
• Limited understanding exists on how QI and simulation are integrated in healthcare settings.
• This study addresses the gap in knowledge regarding the combined use of QI and simulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the utilization of Quality Improvement (QI) and simulation in tandem within healthcare.
• To identify how these two disciplines have been combined in published research.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review of studies published between 2015 and 2021.
• Searches were conducted across four major databases: CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus.
• Inclusion criteria focused on studies describing collaborative QI and simulation projects.

Main Results:

• 18 articles met the inclusion criteria, detailing collaborative QI and simulation projects.
• Key applications included patient care improvements (28%), educational interventions (17%), and latent safety threat (LST) identification (17%).
• A concurrent integration of simulation and QI was observed in 61% of studies, with 33% using a sequential approach.

Conclusions:

• There is a limited body of literature on the synergistic application of QI and simulation.
• The combined use of QI and simulation demonstrates a positive impact on patient safety.
• Systematic integration and standardized reporting are recommended to advance patient safety research and practice.