Watching recordings of simulations hits home

Sure, we all accept performance feedback. But seeing ourselves in action can give us a more realistic idea that hits us much harder.

That was the idea behind an obstetrics simulation, where a doctor and his team were simulating a life-threatening medical condition. The doctor said he quickly forgot it was a simulation and responded as trained.

When viewing the video afterward, he realized that while his medical decisions were correct all the way through, his communication skills needed help.

The mistakes that the review highlighted included:

• issuing directions “to the air,” addressed to no one in particular
• assuming what others were doing but not confirming it, and
• not communicating what tasks he was performing.

Video reviews had much more impact than other forms of review, researchers concluded.

Bottom line: Use videos as a form of feedback. A taped role play viewed later will save 1,000 words of review.

Source: Beatty, T., et al. (2008). Simulation-based team training: The physician participants’ perspectives, Crico/RMF Forum magazine, Vol. 26, no. 4.