The Mednax Simulation Program offers our clinicians across the nation an unparalleled opportunity to hone their skills and improve the care they provide to patients. The program covers a broad range of simulation scenarios focusing on education, communication, patient safety and quality improvement. True to Mednax's core disciplines, we provide this specialty team training in several key areas of women's and children's care. As of April 1, 2020, the Simulation Program has earned a full accreditation status from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) in the areas of Teaching/Education and Systems Integration. That means Mednax's program has met the rigorous SSH standards and supports our goal of promoting excellence in simulation-based education.
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Setting the stage
When designing a simulation, providing a simulation environment that emulates the clinical setting is critical. "We understand it can be hard for participants to feel the situation is real, so we try to provide as much detail and richness in the scenario as possible. We want our clinicians to feel as if this is their real patient," says Gillian Gonzaba, APRN, NNP-C, CHSE, LSSBB, and Associate Director for HRO/Patient Safety and Simulation. Before the simulation, clinicians are given details about the patient's medical history and any other information that would impact their care to accomplish a high level of realism. Gillian notes this 'setting the stage' part of the process is incredibly important as it helps to immerse clinicians into the program from the start.
Another essential aspect in establishing a realistic scenario is performing the simulation in the live patient environment instead of conducting it in a conference room or other available space. The entire care team is asked to join, and clinicians will do precisely what they would in a real-life situation. To take the immersive experience to the next level, the simulation manikin looks and feels lifelike-- the manikin will even react to treatment as a live patient would.
Improved teamwork and group dynamics
The simulation program is not just about the simulation itself. Comprehensive debriefing and feedback from experienced simulation educators help the team improve their services and outcomes. Feedback is comprised of not only objective information collected during the simulation but also data-driven performance evaluations. "I enjoy working in simulation for the teaching and education we can provide," says Diana Galvis, MBA, LSSBB, and Senior Manager for HRO and Simulation. "It is rewarding to hear from a practice that a simulation they just participated in was experienced in their unit just a few days or weeks later." The groups often report working more cohesively following the simulation exercise and have an increased teamwork level across the care team, leading to improved patient experience and outcomes.
Additional benefits of simulation
Our simulation team also provides clinicians with:
- Unique training experiences
- A tailored approach to meet your facility's logistical and equipment needs
- Equipment brought to your facility, eliminating the need to travel
- Optimization of clinical quality and patient safety indicators
- Customized scenarios with full multidisciplinary staff engagement, including physicians and advanced practice providers
- A chance to improve performance without the potential adverse consequences of performing in an actual clinical environment
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the simulation team has quickly adapted to a virtual set up for assistance to discuss program use in the future or provide valuable resources to continue running simulation programs during the pandemic.
Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, M.D., MBA, Chief Quality and Safety Officer, shared that, "The medical simulation team has consistently shown high resiliency, adaptability and passion for innovation that has led to a state-of-the-art medical education simulation program earning the highest certification recognition from the SSH."
Learn how Mednax simulation programs can help improve patient outcomes.