About Simulation
SIMULATION IS THE IMITATION OR REPRESENTATION OF ONE ACT OR SYSTEM BY ANOTHER. HEALTHCARE SIMULATIONS CAN BE SAID TO HAVE FOUR MAIN PURPOSES – EDUCATION, ASSESSMENT, RESEARCH, AND HEALTH SYSTEM INTEGRATION IN FACILITATING PATIENT SAFETY.
Each of these purposes may be met by some combination of role play, low and high tech tools, and a variety of settings from tabletop sessions to a realistic full mission environment. Simulations may also add to our understanding of human behavior in the true–to–life
settings in which professionals operate.The link that ties together all these activities is the act of imitating or representing some situation or process from the simple to the very complex. Healthcare simulation is a range of activities that share a broad, similar purpose – to improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of healthcare services.
Simulation education is a bridge between classroom learning and real-life clinical experience. Novices – and patients - may learn how to do injections by practicing on an orange with a real needle and syringe. Much more complex simulation exercises – similar to aviation curricula that provided the basis for healthcare – may rely on computerized mannequins that perform dozens of human functions realistically in a healthcare setting such as an operating room or critical care unit that is indistinguishable from the real thing. Whether training in a “full mission environment” or working with a desk top virtual reality machine that copies the features of a risky procedure, training simulations do not put actual patients at risk. Healthcare workers are subject to unique risks in real settings too, from such things as infected needles, knife blades and other sharps as well as electrical equipment, and they are also protected during simulations that allow them to perfect their craft.
