Bristol Medical Simulation Centre, University Hospitals of Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK .
J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2021;18:8. doi: 10.3352/jeehp.2021.18.8. Epub 2021 Apr 20.
Simulation training is increasingly popular in healthcare education, and often relies on specially designed manikins. However, it is also possible to work with actors, or simulated patients (SPs), which may provide a greater sense of realism. This study aimed to compare these 2 approaches, to ascertain which makes healthcare professionals feel most comfortable, which leads to the greatest improvement in confidence, and which is most beneficial to learning.
This study was embedded in a pre-existing multidisciplinary in situ simulation program. A multidisciplinary group of learners from a range of backgrounds—including nurses, doctors, and other allied health professionals—were asked to complete a questionnaire about their learning preferences. We collected 204 responses from 40 simulation sessions over 4 months, from September to December 2019. Of these 204 responses, 123 described using an SP and 81 described using a manikin.
We found that 58% of respondents believed they would feel more comfortable working with an actor, while 17% would feel more comfortable using a manikin. Learners who used both modalities reported a significant increase in confidence (P<0.0001 for both). Participants felt that both modalities were beneficial to learning, but SPs provided significantly more benefits to learning than manikins (P<0.0001). The most common reason favoring SP-based simulation was the greater realism.
In scenarios that could reasonably be provided using either modality, we suggest that educators should give greater consideration to using SP-based simulation.
模拟培训在医疗保健教育中越来越受欢迎，并且通常依赖于专门设计的模拟人。然而，使用演员或模拟患者（SP）也是可能的，这可能会提供更真实的感觉。本研究旨在比较这两种方法，以确定哪种方法让医疗保健专业人员感到最舒适，哪种方法最能提高信心，哪种方法对学习最有益。
本研究嵌入在一个预先存在的多学科现场模拟计划中。来自不同背景的多学科学习者小组——包括护士、医生和其他医疗保健专业人员——被要求完成一份关于他们的学习偏好的问卷。我们在 2019 年 9 月至 12 月的 4 个月内从 40 次模拟课程中收集了 204 份来自 204 份回复的答卷，其中 123 份描述了使用 SP 的情况，81 份描述了使用模拟人的情况。
我们发现，58%的受访者认为他们与演员一起工作会感到更舒适，而 17%的受访者会感到使用模拟人更舒适。使用两种模式的学习者的信心显著提高（两者均 P<0.0001）。参与者认为两种模式都有利于学习，但 SP 比模拟人提供了更多的学习益处（P<0.0001）。支持基于 SP 的模拟的最常见原因是更高的真实性。
在可以合理使用两种模式的情况下，我们建议教育者应更多地考虑使用基于 SP 的模拟。
