Pediatric procedural sedation outside the operating room is a growing practice provided by multiple subspecialists with different skills in a variety of settings. The Society for Pediatric Sedation has successfully integrated simulation as a training tool and safety probe in this field by implementing the full day Sedation Provider Course® (PC). This course utilizes high fidelity simulation as a methodology for assessment and training in pediatric procedural sedation. Through this course, the SPS aims to enhance provider knowledge, competency, and skills in caring for pediatric patients needing procedural sedation.
In the last two decades, simulation based training (SBT) in healthcare has emerged as an important methodology for knowledge translation and acquiring technical and behavioral skills. The use of simulation in healthcare has been proven to improve healthcare provider performance, health care processes and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Simulation is a strategy that offers training for a wide range of clinical disciplines within a safe learning environment and without exposing patients to preventable harm. There is ample evidence that simulation-based education and intervention can enhance the knowledge and competency of providers in many disciplines of acute pediatric care. Furthermore, in situ simulation training allows physicians to confront problems that arise in the real setting.
The sedation provider course derives its framework from widely published adult learning principles. Using simulation and post-simulation event debriefing, this course fosters learning and behavioral changes to promote learning outcomes. By conducting a series of training sessions with the intent of enhancing knowledge and skills of different providers across different relevant scenarios, learners have the opportunity to go through the concrete experience of procedural sedation. Followed by post-simulation event debriefings conducted by national experts in procedural sedation and simulation-based education, learners have the chance to undergo the reflection and conceptualization related to the “simulated experience.” Eventually, this improves and enhances the experiential learning for providers where the clinical experience may be limited at their own institutions.
Another important aspect of our provider course is the integration of the crisis resources management (CRM) concept to improve team dynamics and performance across diverse clinical specialties that provide procedural sedation. By enhancing the many aspects of CRM including leadership, problem solving, situational awareness, communication skills, and resource management, the course aims to improve team functioning in an attempt to mitigate the potential of human error that may lead to patient harm.
Learners from different clinical disciplines and institutional backgrounds can utilize the knowledge and skills gained through the provider course at their own institutions. Many reports have shown the utility of simulation-based training in improving team performance and patient safety. Furthermore, recent reports have demonstrated the transfer of improved skills and enhanced patient safety from the simulated environment to the clinical setting. The Society for Pediatric Sedation strives to provide all providers and practitioners in procedural sedation with the essential skills and abilities to provide safe and effective pediatric sedation worldwide. This philosophy is aligned with that of the American Academy of Pediatrics which advocates the use of simulation-based education to maintain providers’ skills and competencies and enhance teams training in the arena of pediatric procedural sedation. The provider course can be utilized as an adjunctive tool for the provider credentialing process in pediatric procedural sedation and as a surrogate measure of team performance and individual competency.
