title: Evaluating simulation education via electronic surveys immediately following live critical events: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Simulation-based medical education has become popular in postgraduate training for medical emergencies; however, the direct impact on learners' clinical performances during live critical events is unknown. Our goal was to evaluate the perceived impact of simulation-based education on pediatric emergencies by auditing pediatric residents immediately after involvement in actual emergency clinical events.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weekly team-based pediatric simulation training for inpatient emergencies was implemented in an academic tertiary care hospital. Immediately after actual pediatric emergency events, each resident involved was audited regarding roles, performed tasks, and perceived effectiveness of earlier simulation-based education. The audit was performed by using a Likert scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From September 2010 through August 2011, a total of 49 simulation sessions were held. During the same period, 27 pediatric emergency events occurred: 3 code events, 14 rapid response team activations, and 10 emergency transfers to the PICU. Forty-seven survey responses from 20 pediatric residents were obtained after the emergency clinical events. Fifty-three percent of residents felt well prepared, and 45% reported having experienced a similar simulation before the clinical event. A preceding similar simulation experience was perceived as helpful in improving clinical performance. Residents' confidence levels, however, did not differ significantly between those who reported having had a preceding similar simulation and those who had not (median of 4 vs median of 3; P=.16, Wilcoxon rank-sum test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A novel electronic survey was successfully piloted to measure residents' perceptions of simulation education compared with live critical events. Residents perceived that their experiences in earlier similar simulations positively affected their performances during emergencies.
authors: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland; corinne.happel@gmail.com matthew.s.braga@hitchcock.org.
authors: Corinne Savides
authors: CS
authors: Happel
authors: American Family Children's Hospital, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin;
authors: Meredith A
authors: MA
authors: Lease
authors: Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and.
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Nishisaki
authors: Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire corinne.happel@gmail.com matthew.s.braga@hitchcock.org.
authors: Matthew S
authors: MS
authors: Braga
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D004630:Emergencies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D016544:Patient Simulation; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: code blue; graduate medical education; patient simulation; pediatrics