PG89 Exploring serious incidents and ‘never events’ in perioperative practice – learning through simulation

Abstract

Literature Review Background Serious Incidents (SI’s) and ‘Never Events’ continue to occur in the healthcare setting, with particular emphasis on high risk areas such as the perioperative arena. The term ‘perioperative’ defines the three stages of care during an operation or procedure: anaesthetics, surgery and recovery. Practitioners working in this area have a duty to identify and minimise safety risks, ensuring they remain up-to-date with training opportunities. Health care learners commonly rely on opportunistic experiential learning in clinical placements in order to develop skills, however in light of moral, ethical and legal aspects surrounding safety, this remains questionable due to advances in complementary educational learning opportunities. While the use of simulation based training is an established mode in general healthcare settings, application and integration specifically in the perioperative arena is shown to require facilitation. Summary of Work The aim of this research is to investigate the hypothesis between the effectiveness of simulation within perioperative care and its contribution to learning for patient safety. The review focuses on the utilisation of simulation based learning and the embedded human factors, specifically within the perioperative profession. The broader related constructs of patient safety addresses theoretical pedagogy within simulation based training. Further, systems; human interaction, environment, equipment, and personal factors are recognized as significant contributions within the patient safety domain. The SHEEP model (Rosenorn-Lanng, 2016; Rosenorn-Lanng, 2015) has been used for analysis. Summary of Results A total of 23 papers were selected for data, outcomes were of a statistical analysis nature in 7/23 papers. Results revealed prospective themes as dominant. Table 1. Discussion and conclusions There remains a plethora of evidence surrounding harms to patients’ within general healthcare areas. There is a strong correlation between patient safety and learning through simulation. There is a strong correlation between patient safety and perioperative practice. Human factors are strongly evident within patient safety literature. Learning through simulation to improve safety specifically within the perioperative domain however, remains under explored. Recommendations Further research is encouraged into conceptual frameworks that inform the integration of simulation-based learning as a pedagogy throughout CPD in the perioperative arena. Finally, human factors must be established within cultural norms, as they are embedded throughout simulation based learning. It is recommended that perioperative practitioners adopt simulation as a key learning tool and as an established method of professional duty toward patient safety. Reference Rosenorn-Lanng, D. ( 2014) Human Factors in Healthcare, Level 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rosenorn-Lanng, D. ( 2015) Human Factors in Healthcare, Level 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press.