News & stories - Simulation program

08 July 2024

The perioperative team had their first fully funded and regular simulation session embedded into the OR slate. It was a huge success. Please contact the PHC Translational Simulation Team if you’d like to arrange something like this in your clinical area.

26 June 2024

On June 25, PHC Simulation Team was happy to be able to support the SPH Renal Team run a great simulation. Using our high fidelity mannikin, we were able to simulate a Code Blue scenario in a patient about to undergo hemodialysis. We hope to be able to support any other PHC patient care teams wishing to practice clinical scenarios.

10 June 2024

The first cohort of educators who completed the Simulation Facilitator Development course offered by VCH Simulation Educators (Kim Cockburn and Krista Sferrazza from VGH) on June 6 and 7, 2024.

Let’s get ready to simulate!

04 June 2024

Read the key points by Reed Morrison.

Reed has also created an educational video for the ER stabilette and initial receival of a newborn in ER.

27 May 2024

*Deadline extended to June 9, 2024 and will only be held on-line. At this time, no in-person session will be held.

Learn more

03 May 2024

Read the April newsletter

17 April 2024

As part of our continuous learning, Simulation Manager Riley Louie and Project Support Coordinator Malavika Menon took part in the Quality Improvement (QI) Challenge from September 2023 to April 2024, in hopes to better the utilization data collected for both attendance and feedback by 50% by April 2024. On April 17, 2024, Malavika and Riley presented their findings with the rest of the QI cohort, mentors and leaders.

Using certain QI tools such as the 5 whys, driver diagram, fish bone diagram, and process mapping, they were able to dig deeper at the problem at hand and further explore change ideas and ways to implement them. Since implementing the change ideas on December 4th 2023, there was a 150% increase in the attendance rate, 66.65% increase in facilitator feedback rate, and 27.1% increase in participant feedback rate.

We acknowledge that these efforts are a two-way street and would especially like to thank all the facilitators for their efforts and inputs to help us achieve our goal. Though the QI challenge had an end date, we hope that our data collection initiatives will continue and be ongoing.

18 January 2024

Read the January newsletter

21 November 2023

Providence Health Care had a product demonstration by CAE Healthcare, wherein the company demonstrated the use of an Ultrasound Simulator.

For more information on the simulator, click here.

23 October 2023

In alignment with VCH goals of health system redesign, our Providence Health Care Translational Simulation Program has been granted funding to promote physician engagement in simulation. This funding is available to any Providence physicians taking time away from their usual work to participate in or lead (designing, facilitating, evaluating) simulations.

Goals of VCH health system redesign funding

• Improve primary and community care,
• Reduce waitlists and expand capacity for surgical services,
• Improve information management,
• Recruitment and training,
• Promote positive organizational culture.

Who is eligible?

• PHC physicians who are facilitating and/or participating in simulation sessions, who are not being remunerated for that time in some other way.*

How to apply

• The funding is based on an hourly rate, and it is available till March 2025.
• Physicians will need to complete the “One-time physician information” form to set up your details with the Simulation Program (including direct deposit through VCH) using this link.
• Physician attendance at simulations will need to be logged and submitted on the “Physician Sign-in Sheet” and submitted to Malavika Menon after the sessions are complete.
• To learn more on how to book a simulation (simulator/lab), please use this link.

For more information on conducting or attending simulations, please contact Dr. Shannon Lockhart and/or Dr. Jeanne MacLeod.

For more information on the funding procedure, please contact Malavika Menon with the following details:

1. The date you attended the simulation
2. Who was your facilitator
3. Your MSP number
4. Vendor ID information

Resources such as the direct deposit form can be found in the Tools + Education page.

PHYSICIAN PARTICIPATION IN SIMULATION – FUNDING FOR COURSES

There is opportunity to apply this funding to support physicians in the development of their ability to utilize simulation for health system improvement and redesign. For more information and to submit an application for funding, click here.

* The stipulation for this provincial funding program is to reimburse fully licensed physicians (family physicians, specialists) who are generally fee-for-service, to compensate for their time outside of direct care. A physician with a full-time salaried role would not be eligible for sessional reimbursement. As well, medical residents are not eligible for reimbursement.

13 June 2023

The Clinical Simulation Conference will take place on August 17, 2023 at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. They are now accepting abstracts until June 17, 2023. Please find more information on the call for abstracts here. More details about the conference, can be found here.

05 June 2023

The St. Paul’s Foundation team has put together a case for support for our active donors. Click here to learn more.

05 June 2023

On April 27 and May 8, 2023, the CSICU staff participated in a 2 hour simulation session as part of an education day. The participants included CSICU RNs, perfusion staff and anesthesia staff. Click here to see what they experienced.

05 May 2023

John Bonilla, our Simulation Technical Coordinator was sent to Wappinger Falls, NY in April 2023 to attend Laerdal’s 3-day workshop called ‘Advanced Care and Maintenance Course’ for SimMan 3G. The workshop was taught by Laerdal’s Field Service Engineers and had up to 6 participants. Upon completion, John was awarded the ‘SimMan 3G Advanced Care and Maintenance Course Certificate’ that is valid for 2 years. With this certification, John can perform various maintenance and care functions to ensure the upkeep of the SimMan 3G.

20 January 2023

UBC Family Practice Program – Indigenous Sites

“As someone who works in remote communities, Sim training is invaluable. I get to make mistakes in a safe setting where no one gets hurt, and I bring that learning to my work. So often I’m encountering clinical scenarios I haven’t yet addressed in real life but I have practiced in Sim.

With the help of St Paul’s Sim program, I am building a Sim program for the UBC Family Medicine Indigenous Site, to offer residents who work in remote Indigenous communities the opportunity to build their skills, teamwork, knowledge and confidence. I strongly believe Sim training gives doctors the confidence to do rural and remote work, who might not otherwise consider it.”

—

Mary Koziol, MD CCFP (she/her)
Primary Care Physician, Carrier Sekani Family Services
mary.koziol@mail.mcgill.ca

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ICU – St. Paul’s Hospital

“The best of both worlds. Simulation is applying didactic learned knowledge into action. That ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look, your body is frozen while someone is dying in front of you. Making mistakes is a GOOD thing during simulation.

How about our multigenerational mix of staff? From 22 years old to 72 years old! We all learn differently but everyone must put it to the same action.

With simulation, there’s less talking and more doing. The learned tactile knowledge of how to use equipment and adapting procedures to our own physical limitations or the team’s physical limitations. When the bed is in the lowest position for the CPR provider, the physician has to squat in order to look into the patient’s mouth to put a breathing tube into the trachea. The most important person is the one performing the best CPR for optimal brain recovery. Improving patient care and saving lives. Team building with staff, learning each other’s quirks and bonding with side conversations. A bond that can last a lifetime.

Simulation provides peace of mind for instructors. We can see when the light bulb goes off and staff are applying knowledge to action. We can provide more practice with simulation for those that need a little more time. Responsive teaching with simulation. We can’t go backwards.”

—

Susan Bello RN, BSN
Clinical Nurse Educator, ICU
St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver

09 November 2022

Our Intensivist lead for residents runs simulations twice a month with the full team consisting of RNs, RTs and MDs.  We run through all the ACLS algorithms, the most challenging scenarios are when the patients have a pulse!  Scenarios evolve depending on the decisions made by the Code Team Leader.

Once every 3 months, we onboard nursing staff to the Code Blue Team using simulation.  This is where mistakes are made but SimMan (I’ve named him Chad) always survives.

Testimonials: “Thank you for the experience!”  “I had forgotten that, it was nice to review it.”

19 October 2022

On October 12, a fundraising event was held by the St. Paul’s Foundation. Called the Health Innovation Series, it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase PHC’s current simulation activities to donors and to hopefully inspire longer term donors to continue to support PHC Simulation.

Thanks to the representatives from  Laerdal  for coming and setting up the mannequins.

The mannequin featured in this photo is the latest Sim Man 3G model that should be arriving to PHC in late December.

7 October 2022

We are happy to announce Malavika Menon has accepted the position of PHC professional practice and simulation.

Her start date will be October 24, 2022. She can be contacted at: mmenon3@providencehealth.bc.ca

28 September 2022

At the beginning of the pandemic, Providence Health Care’s (PHC) clinicians at St. Paul’s
Hospital faced a growing problem. Patients were arriving daily with severe breathing difficulties, many needing breathing assistance from a procedure to insert a tube into the throat, called intubation.

Adding to the complexity, many of the patients were frail and infectious with COVID-19. Soon, the trained clinicians couldn’t keep pace with the demand for this life-saving procedure. They turned to medical simulation, using a “smart” mannequin to train additional health providers to become expert at the skill — learning in full personal protective equipment.

A protracted emergency like COVID-19, laid bare the need for expanded capacity and options for experiential training across the health care system. This became evident in central hubs like Vancouver, but also exposed the critical need to create remote experiential learning opportunities, particularly for under-served areas such as rural towns and villages and Indigenous communities.

Read From Mannequin to Metaverse: Advancing experiential health care training to learn more about the opportunities for immersive training – and beyond.

28 July 2022

The Simulation Resources Team meets once every two months with staff including physicians, nurses, therapists, and educators to provide updates and have discussions regarding the status of the program, any new purchases, updates to the transition to New St. Paul’s Hospital, and more.

If you are interested in joining our Working Group, please email Malavika at mmenon3@providencehealth.bc.ca.