Developing and evaluating an in situ, simulated emergency training course for nurses with low seniority

This study aimed to construct and implement an in situ simulated emergency training (SET) course for nurses with low seniority and evaluate its effectiveness.

This was an experimental study, and a purpose-sampling method was adopted. We selected 82 nurses with less than 5 years of experience working in a grade - III Class A hospital in Hubei province from August to December 2023 as the research objects, and randomly divided them into intervention group (n = 37) and control group (n = 45). The control group underwent routine stratified training, whereas the intervention group underwent in situ SET based on routine stratified training. Before and after training, we compared differences in the scores of the intervention and control groups in terms of critical thinking (CT), clinical communication (CC), clinical reasoning (CR), and first aid (FA).

The constructed in situ simulated emergency training course consisted of nine courses, each of which covered one theme. The nine themes were acute myocardial infarction, diabetic ketoacidosis, secondary shock due to acute transfusion anaphylaxis, post-operative respiratory depression combined with pulmonary edema, unplanned extubation, impulsive violence, chemotherapeutic drug extravasation, patient suicide, and acute pulmonary embolism. The results of the empirical study showed that before training, there were no differences between the intervention and control groups in the scores for the following abilities: CT, CC, CR, and FA (p > 0.05). After training, the scores for CR and FA in the intervention group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05), while the scores for CT and CC did not differ from those in the control group (p > 0.05).

The content of the in situ SET course is comprehensive, which is helpful in improving junior nurses' CC and FA abilities and can serve as a reference for establishing a training course for them. However, the effects on the CT and CC were not significant. Further empirical studies are required to explore the targeted training courses.