1. Communication and management skills
Level Up: Student confidence in transitioning from practice to placement; use of a clinical simulation environment
David Hegarty, Lecturer in Physiotherapy
Department of Psychology, Social Work and Allied Health Sciences | School of Health and Life Sciences | Glasgow Caledonian University
Key Message
Clinical simulation sessions can significantly improve student confidence in interacting with patients. A key facilitator was the real life scenarios and a barrier was not having enough time in the simulation environment 1 2 3
Student physiotherapists prefer to learn from a theoretical perspective initially, with time to review notes/theory and then to experience ‘real-life’ patient experiences 1.
Transition to clinical practice can be challenging after university based theoretical learning. On first patient contact physiotherapy students reported ‘communication and management of patients’ as the main theme that they needed to reflected on 2.
Clinical simulation offers a transitional format to prepare students for practice, however it is unclear how effective this is for physiotherapy students.
Background
Do clinical simulation experiences impact student confidence in applying skills learnt in a class environment to a new and clinically relevant environment?
Aim
Methods
Participants: Level 2 BSc Physiotherapy students from GCU
Intervention: Peer led clinical simulation based case studies with simulated patients
Outcome:
1) Pre, Post Questionnaire: examining confidence of students in applying skills learnt in class was performed Pre and Post a clinical simulation environment
2) Focus Group: Nominal Group Technique (NGT) session 1 week post examining facilitators and barriers to learning within clinical simulation 4
Results J
Questionnaire
Focus Group (NGT)
38 students invited to focus group
7 took up offer to attend (~18% )
Single session, 1 week post
49 students invited to complete survey
38 completed (~78% RR)
Single Cohort, Pre, Post
Facilitators
Placement specific environment
Access to case studies in advance
Unknown factors to examine within session
Peer feedback
Barriers
Need more practice in real life environments
More peer feedback
Not enough time on activity
More clinical simulation sessions
Communication and management skills
Establish rapport with a patient
Explain my professional role to a patient
Use interpersonal skills appropriately with respect to: a. Eye contact, b. Verbal speed, tone and volume, c. Language , d. Body language
Conduct physical assessment
Discuss management plan with a patient
Select appropriate treatment techniques
Apply appropriate treatment techniques
Interact as a professional
Ranking by %
Low ranked factors
Ranking by %
Low ranked factors
Student confidence in all 8 communication and management skills significantly improved after attending the clinical simulation environment (p < 0.01) 5
Conclusions
Clinical simulation improves confidence in applying skills learnt in a class environment to a new and clinically relevant environment (p < 0.01). Key factors included peer feedback and the real life environment and scenario and the main barriers were more access to clinical simulation and peer feedback.
References:
1-MOUNTFORD, H., JONES, S. and TUCKER, B., Learning styles of entry-level physiotherapy students. Advances In Physiotherapy, 8(3), pp
2 - LEDERGERBER, C. and BODMER, M., Students’ first contact with patients. Physiotherapy, 102 (S1) pp. e174-5.
Contact Details: David Hegarty MSc by Research, BSc (Hons), MCSP, MISCP
Lecturer in Physiotherapy | Department of Psychology, Social Work and Allied Health Sciences | School of Health and Life Sciences
T: +44 (0) | E:
Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 0BA,
Scotland, United Kingdom
University for the Common Good
Figure 1: Graph of mean change in confidence related to skills.