7 Ways to Increase Simulation Value with SimCapture
Are you maximizing the value of your simulation program?
Effective simulation center management is key to ensuring you’re getting the most out of your simulation investment. SimCapture is a full-scale simulation management tool that can help maximize efficiency and effectiveness in your lab. SimCapture allows you to record, assess, and debrief simulations while also helping you run your center smoothly.
Below, we share 7 ways you can streamline your sim center management with SimCapture to get the most out of your simulation program and maximize learning impact.
1. Make your simulation data work for you.
If you’re like many others in simulation, you may be using pen and paper to collect data on learner performance. Paper checklists are often stored in different places, making it difficult to analyze. But when it’s well-organized and presented in a meaningful way, your simulation data is gold.
How SimCapture can help:
The SimCapture platform generates a tremendous amount of data that you can turn into actionable insights for enhancing learning outcomes and operational efficiency. Three key areas of data include:
- Student performance trends at the individual and cohort level. Seeing trends in how students are progressing can help you easily and efficiently identify areas where students need help.
- Utilization of your lab. Measure the throughput of learners and visitors to your lab with sign-in/out reports, and see reports on learner contact hours and number of sessions. Having this data readily available can help ease the burden of budgeting and accreditation (i.e. SSiH or INACSL accreditation).
- Identifying the need for faculty development in effective evaluation. An inter-rater consistency report helps you compare how different faculty members are evaluating learners. This can help you identify outliers that may need additional training.
This data can not only help you boost value through increased operational efficiency and learning impact. It can also help you demonstrate that value to your administration by providing tangible evidence of the value of your simulation efforts.
"Your data really does tell a story. But you have to be able to read what the data is telling you – and then do something with it."
- Rosemary Samia, MSN, RN, CNS, CHSE
Director, Center for Clinical Education & Research, University of Massachusetts Boston
2. Streamline your inventory management.
Keeping track of medical supplies, equipment, and consumables in the lab is tedious and time-consuming. And, running out of essential supplies right before a simulation can interrupt sessions and lower training quality.
How SimCapture can help:
SimCapture’s Inventory Management tool tracks your capital and consumable inventory for you, eliminating the need for 3rd party inventory applications or manual spreadsheets. When you use items during simulation sessions, SimCapture automatically updates your inventory.
Reports on current inventory and forecasts eliminate the need for manual counting and reporting, reducing errors and waste. SimCapture also provides insights into your usage patterns and costs, helping you optimize your operations and justify your investments.
Self-Assessment:
Are You Maximizing the Full Value of Your Simulation Center?
Take this quick self-assessment to help you identify areas of your lab that may benefit from increased efficiencies.
3. Automatically transfer student data from your LMS to SimCapture.
Faculty report spending a considerable amount of their time on administrative duties on top of all their other responsibilities.
According to one study:
When time and resources are scarce, it’s important to look for ways to reduce the administrative burden.
How SimCapture can help:
SimCapture can integrate with your existing Learning Management System (LMS). This allows for transfer of essential course and student information, like course title and users, from your LMS into SimCapture. SimCapture uses Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard-based integration. This makes it compatible with Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, and other Learning Management Systems supporting LTI.
The next release in early 2025 will allow for pushing additional course components – including score and grade syncing – from SimCapture to your LMS.
Simplifying administrative tasks related to course components means one less thing to tackle on the to-do list. This frees up hours to focus on tasks that make a greater impact on learning output.
4. Run simulations anywhere.
In situ simulation, or simulation taking place in the real environment, is correlated with improved patient outcomes.2
In situ simulation allows learners to practice in the actual environment in which they work, offering the most realistic possible training experience. However, it can be logistically challenging to run in situ simulations outside of the lab.
How SimCapture can help:
The SimCapture Mobile Camera app is a versatile, mobile capture and live stream tool that can help you extend your simulation lab’s capabilities. You can run scenarios anywhere without compromising on the SimCapture functionality that is essential for operating your simulation center efficiently. It requires only internet connectivity. Capture every angle in one or multiple locations, with up to four mobile devices per simulation session – giving you the complete picture.
SimCapture Mobile Camera can boost the value of your simulation program by opening the door for new scenarios while still ensuring high-quality simulations.
"We’re very space-constrained in our lab. Now, anywhere in our Health Sciences building has become a place where we can run a simulation. It has really given us the ability to do a lot more to create realistic environments for our students."
- Ed Biebel
Clinical Simulation Manager, Rowan College
5. Collaborate more easily.
Research shows that when educators collaborate more, it improves student outcomes, increases educator job satisfaction, and decreases turnover.3
Collaboration is key – and your simulation program is no exception. From co-designing real-world scenarios to sharing insights on student performance, collaboration and communication can amplify your simulation impact.
How SimCapture can help:
- According to the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice for Scenario Design, simulations should be designed in consultation with content experts and simulationists who are knowledgeable in simulation best practices. (source) Scenarios can be easily shared with other staff in SimCapture. Activity logging in SimCapture’s Scenario Builder gives a quick overview of the contributors in the development of the scenarios. These features allow for easier collaboration among staff, helping to ensure that every scenario is well-designed and impactful.
- Recorded SimCapture sessions are sharable with other faculty, staff, and administrators. This makes it easier to communicate learners progress, which can facilitate the provision of feedback and identify opportunities to adjust teaching strategies.
By bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives, your simulation team can create more effective training experiences and provide meaningful feedback that supports student growth.
6. Reduce faculty workload with peer-to-peer learning.
Skills practice is one area where you can easily empower your students to take ownership of their learning – and free up faculty time and space in the process. Learners can take turns performing the skill and assessing one another. This gives them repetitive exposure that reinforces learning without the need for as much faculty workload.
How SimCapture can help:
SimCapture for Skills is a digital assessment and evaluation tool that facilitates peer-to-peer skills mastery. Immediate, personalized electronic evaluations show learners areas for improvement and automated reports give faculty the insights they need on learners’ performance and utilization.
Utilizing this approach to skills mastery has been shown to yield major impacts on learning effectiveness and efficiency. One example is Temple Junior College, which significantly increased its pass rates in sterile gloving. The University of Massachusetts Boston boosted its first-time pass rates and reduced its remediation time from 120 hours to 2.
Temple Junior College
UMass Boston
7. Boost efficiency with dedicated support.
Managing your simulation center doesn’t have to be a solo effort. Allowing others to assist you can significantly increase efficiency and save time by allowing you to leverage their unique skills, expertise, and perspectives.
How SimCapture can help:
With the support of a SimCapture Impact Manager, you gain a dedicated partner to help you streamline your simulation program. Impact Managers provide personalized guidance to align SimCapture with your workflows, optimize data utilization, and help achieve training goals efficiently. This service extends beyond setup, offering ongoing support to tackle operational hurdles and ensure your simulation program runs smoothly. By leveraging their expertise, you can save time, improve program outcomes, and enhance efficiency, all at no additional cost for the lifetime of your subscription.
Helping you maximize the value of your simulation program
You may also like...
References
- Bittner, N. (n.d.) Identifying and Describing Nursing Faculty Workload Issues: A Looming Faculty Shortage [PowerPoint slides]. Massachusetts Action Coalition: Transforming Healthcare Through Nursing. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e232/f6dbfd4fb927454db5140d44228eca028661.pdf
- Goldshtein, D., Krensky, C., Doshi, S., & Perelman, V. S. (2019). In situ simulation and its effects on patient outcomes: a systematic review. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjstel-2018-000387
- Schleifer, D., Rinehart, C., & Yanisch, T. (2017). Teacher Collaboration in Perspective: A Guide to Research. (2017). Public Agenda. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED591332.pdf