Midwifery students' experiences of simulation- and skills training
Introduction
There is increased interest in simulation- and skills training in midwifery education. Many universities and hospitals have built centres that are similar to delivery and maternity wards. Simulation- and skills training in midwifery programmes are implemented to develop clinical skills in order to reduce pressures in clinical practice beforehand and offer opportunities to develop skills in a safe environment (Berragan, 2011).
Section snippets
Background
There are several reasons why simulation- and skills training are implemented in midwifery programmes including improving students' knowledge and skills, enhancing patient safety and practising different cases that occur infrequently in clinical setting. Also, other non-clinical skills such as communication, decision-making, prioritisation, critical thinking and teamwork can be practised and enhanced through simulation.
Previously, there was a systematic review that critically examined the
Sample and Data Collection
The inclusion criteria were all students in the midwifery programme willing to share their experiences. Results are based on group interviews. A semi-structured interview guide was designed based on research group experiences and evaluations of earlier simulation- and skills training. The interview guide had three open-ended questions: What are your experiences of training under normal birth situations? What are your experiences of training under complicated birth situations? What are your
Findings
The results are presented in four main categories: develops hands on skills and communication, power of collaborative learning, highly valued learning environment and facilitates clinical practice. The mean age of the students was 30 years-old, and they had worked for three and a half years, on average, as registered nurses before they applied to the midwifery programme. After one year of studies, the students had practised five weeks at a delivery ward and seven weeks at antenatal care. On
Discussion
Results showed that students thought that collaboration, reflections and critical thinking increased their learning ability. The repetitive practices, where mistakes could be made without fear of comprising patient safety, were highly valued. Simulation- and skills training created links between theory and practice, which allowed for deeper knowledge.
One result that appeared in this study was the group's significance for learning. Wenger's learning theory “Communities of practice” is a social
Conclusion
Simulation- and skills training support the development of midwifery skills. It creates links between theory and practice, which facilitate student's learning ability. Having the opportunity to work in a collaborative group in an open environment is of great importance for the learning process. The students felt prepared and confident before they began their clinical practice. According to students, simulation- and skills training increased safety for all involved; specifically, students were
Acknowledgements
We thank all the midwifery students who openly shared their beliefs and views during the interviews. We thank the midwifery students Anastasia Haidar and Marie Svensson for their cooperation with analysis and results.
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2020, MidwiferyCitation Excerpt :Acquired knowledge can also be in the form of advancing technical skills such as venepuncture as well as transferable skills such as effective team communication and reflection. Most importantly simulation training offers students the opportunity to develop these skills in a safe environment, as such, recent years has seen multiple universities build simulation centres to enable simulation training as part of their educational health programmes (Lendahls and Oscarsson, 2017). There is a wide range of simulation modalities that can be used in health care education, ranging from anatomical models (low-fidelity) to high-fidelity simulators and virtual reality simulators (amongst others).