Healthcare Simulation: An effective way of learning in health care

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Simulation-based learning has been a part of teaching in healthcare for a long time; however, in recent decades, simulation-based learning has been adopted by a significant number of healthcare institutes at different levels to improve practical skills, confidence, and preparedness to ensure patient safety and its application in real-life situations towards better patient care. The main objective of this paper was to use existing literature to explore aspects of simulation in healthcare teaching. METHODS: It is a narrative review on simulation in healthcare that was conducted by using various search engines for English-language articles published between 2010 and August 2020. The main search terms were simulation, healthcare teaching, and simulation in healthcare. All articles found relevant to the title and/or abstract were retrieved. Searches were conducted using the academic databases PubMed, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Athabasca University (AU) library site. The studies were reviewed if they were considered relevant to the search by the primary authors. RESULTS: Thirty-nine articles, which met the pre-set criteria, were analyzed and employed as a reference in this paper to support the idea that simulation is an effective way of learning in healthcare. CONCLUSION: This paper reviewed various aspects of simulation, including its background, philosophies, and highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating simulation as a pedagogical approach into current educational curriculums for healthcare students. Furthermore, it presents a brief discussion on the current uses of simulation, followed by the educational strategies related to simulation and the importance of debriefing in simulation activities.