The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Geriatric Disaster Nursing Simulation Intervention With Supportive Debriefing

Abstract

Introduction: Geriatric disaster nursing simulation curriculum use scenarios with trauma-based topics that may contribute to lack of psychological safety in learners. This learning condition lowers students' self-efficacy, so supportive debriefing is needed to provide psychological safety for learners. The aims of this study are to develop and apply a geriatric disaster nursing simulation and to evaluate the effectiveness of a supportive debriefing model on psychological safety, learning self-efficacy, and counseling self-efficacy.

Methods: A geriatric nursing simulation scenario, checklists, and a standardized patient were developed based on the Analysis-Design-Development-Implementation-Evaluation model. Nursing students were recruited as participants and randomly assigned to either the experimental group, conventional group, or control group. All 3 groups participated in the same geriatric disaster nursing simulation scenario, after which the experimental group used a supportive debriefing model-the SENSE (share-explore-notice-support-extend) model. The conventional group used a common debriefing model, the GAS (gathering-analyzing-summarizing) model, and the control group received simple comments with no debriefing model. The effects of the debriefing models on psychological safety, learning self-efficacy, and counseling self-efficacy were measured by self-report questionnaires. The aggregate scores of the measures were 222 for counseling self-efficacy, 70 for learning self-efficacy, and 50 for psychological safety. Higher scores within these measures corresponded to heightened capabilities.

Results: The mean score of counseling self-efficacy in the SENSE model group was significantly increased after the simulation with the supportive debriefing from 142.80 ± 11.43 to 164.53 ± 15.48 (Z = -3.411, P = 0.001). In addition, the SENSE model group and the GAS model group had significantly higher scores in counseling self-efficacy, learning self-efficacy, and psychological safety than those of the control group. However, the SENSE model group had a significantly higher score in psychological safety than that of the GAS model group.

Conclusions: The SENSE debriefing model is recommended as a supportive debriefing model to foster students' psychological safety in disaster nursing simulations.