Effects of the Simulation Education Program to Train Life-Saving Nurses

PURPOSE: Five programs have been developed with the aim of educating nurses in the first three years of their career, nurturing professionals who are able to predict sudden changes in the patient’s condition, who can deal appropriately with these sudden changes, and who can play the role of both a leader and a team member in response to such situations. The programs that have been developed are planned so that a new nurse can participate in the first program and, after passing the relevant exams, he/she will then proceed to the next program. The purpose of this study is to verify the efficacy of the five educational programs that have been developed. 

METHOD: A simulation exam covering the entire contents of the five educational programs has been conducted in two groups: a trained group of 114 subjects who have completed the five educational programs developed, and a non-trained group of 58 subjects who have not participated in the educational programs. Subjects who have participated step-by-step in the five educational programs and have successfully passed both the knowledge and practical skills tests of each program are eligible to take part in the simulation exam. The simulation exam was evaluated using a checklist of 34 items (with a perfect score of 34), including the following four evaluation criteria of the five educational programs: “observation of premonitory symptoms of sudden changes in condition from the aspect of ABCDE,” “request for backup and report by SBAR,” “emergency measures necessary for patients,” and “participant’s role as a leader or as a team member.”

RESULTS: In the score of the skill test, a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.05) was observed. There was a median value of 31.0 for the trained group, and a median value of 29.0 for the non-trained group. For the four items of the checklist, “observation of the movement of the thorax,” “confirmation of the presence or absence of fever,” “auscultation of breath sounds,” and “preparation for intubation,” a significant relationship (p<0.05) was observed between experience of participating in the educational programs and the level of ability to implement the skills. The number of subjects who were able to conduct the above four tasks was higher in the trained group than in the non-trained group.

CONCLUSION: The five programs that have been developed can be considered effective in the professional education of nurses who are able to predict sudden changes in the patient’s condition, who can deal appropriately with these sudden changes, and who can play the role of both a leader and a team member in response to such situations.