#4 Reason the Simulation is Not Working: Timing

Is the simulation event too long?? An obvious sign is learner disengagement. Prebrief is generally between five to ten minutes, sufficient for the learners to be oriented to what is about to take place.? Twenty to thirty minutes is allotted for the scenario itself.? Recommended debriefing time is twice the time for the scenario.? If the simulation has a prebrief time of ten minutes, run time of twenty minutes and debrief of forty minutes that’s a total of seventy minutes for the event.?

The human brain is only capable of maintaining focus for about 60 minutes before it needs a break.? Therefore a long simulation risks losing participant attention more than one that is kept within the timeframe for optimal human focus. A really good scenario begs the simulation specialist to schedule a longer run, but as tempting as this sounds, stick to the recommended time limit.??

Suppose a faculty member requires a specific simulation event for their course but it always tends to run too long; what can you do to keep within the timeframe?

1. Consider writing a two-part simulation. This works well if the concept being evaluated needs more than three objectives. For instance, a cardiac arrest can be divided into part one, the actual code, and part two, follow-up care of the patient.

2. Review the scenario to eliminate unnecessary tasks. If a focused assessment is adequate, the participant doesn’t need to perform a complete head to toe examination.

3. Assure the learner administering medication understands how to access the medication dispenser. You'd be surprised how often the simulation is held up while the med nurse tries to figure out how to dispense the required drugs.

4. Limit the number of times a participant must contact the provider. Once per sim is usually enough unless it is an advanced, complex scenario. If the sim needs frequent provider input, write that role into the scenario and have the provider at the bedside.

5. Dismiss the participants from the sim space when time is up. If all the objectives weren't met, debriefing will allow learners to reflect on how to improve.? Sometimes it’s clear the participants are stumped on a nursing action.? Having them stand around trying to figure out what to do just wastes time.

Simulation is labor intensive. No need to create more work for the simulation team. Stay on time and on task to help the scenario run much more smoothly.

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