Research shows the majority of learning and critical analysis occurs during the debriefing session of healthcare simulation training. During debriefing, medical students have the chance to not only hear feedback from their instructors but see — through video playback — what went right, what went wrong, and what can be improved upon next time. It’s easy to miss small details during the hustle of a simulated experience, but debriefing opens a critical space for reflection and evaluation. The result is medical students learn and absorb valuable lessons to take with them into the next simulation and real-life scenarios. Keep reading to learn how simulation debriefing leads to better outcomes — and the components you need for successful debriefing for your Chicago, IL, simulation lab.

If there’s a massive pileup on the freeway and 50 injured patients head to your emergency room, will you be ready to receive and treat them? If an earthquake damages your corporate offices, do you know how to evacuate everyone quickly and safely? If a military helicopter collides with a commercial airliner at your airport, are you prepared to coordinate a multi-agency response? Just as simulation training has become an integral part of healthcare education, it is increasingly used in disaster preparedness training as well.

Have you ever watched a video of yourself and wondered why in the world you were talking so loudly, playing with your hair, or doing something else that you weren’t aware of at the time? Video can reveal a lot of details that get overlooked in the moment. Simulation training is quickly becoming the most effective way to provide healthcare education, but for best results, you should take it a step further and record then evaluate the training.

We invite you to read Lessening Distractions in the Control Room before you begin reading this section. It is an introduction to the challenge for the simulationist in regard to cognitive load. This article begins a discussion on the types of technologies that will help address these challenges. 

Lessening Distractions in the Control Room assumes that you as the reader has experience with the typical control room. The reality is that each simulation program may have the control room layout designed differently. Allow us to provide a little more context for those of you who don’t have a control room.

Let’s face it, simulation control rooms could use a huge makeover; so many distractions can overwhelm most simulationists. Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used to accomplish a set of tasks, or just one task. The human brain can only do so much before errors become a part of the effort.