Heartbeat: A novel approach to paediatric simulation during COVID-19

August 17, 2020

The simulation and paediatric teams have recently joined forces to initiate a weekly departmental multi-disciplinary simulation programme. The aim of this initiative is to focus on the safe management of paediatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams have covered the safe use of high-flow oxygen therapy, CPAP and nebulisers. The sessions have been held in a non-clinical area in the paediatric department at Sandwell. They have been streamed live over WebEx to allow those staff members working from home or shielding to participate, and to facilitate social distancing. Paediatric student nurses, healthcare assistants, staff nurses and medical staff have all taken part wearing appropriate PPE and worked together to manage simulated patients as they would in real clinical practice. Each scenario is followed by a group discussion about how the case was managed and how participants felt. The take home learning points are then identified.

Feedback has been obtained following all sessions and staff have described them as “interesting” and held in a “safe environment,” with staff learning “how communication can be affected when wearing PPE.” One colleague mentioned that the session helped them to appreciate the importance of taking the time to communicate effectively when talking to colleagues, parents and patients. Role-establishment and the importance of situational awareness and effective team work were also highlighted as being important.

Dr Danielle Bogue, Simulation Fellow told Heartbeat: “These sessions have proven to be extremely useful to everyone that has participated. Being able to host these sessions virtually as well makes such a positive difference as we can include everyone we need to, regardless of whether they are in work or working from home. We will continue to develop the programme based on feedback from colleagues and thank everyone for their input so far.”