Digital Simulation Improves, Maintains, and Helps Transfer Health-Care Providers' Neonatal Resuscitation Knowledge

Simran K Ghoman; Maria Cutumisu; Georg M Schmölzer

doi:10.3389/fped.2020.599638

Digital Simulation Improves, Maintains, and Helps Transfer Health-Care Providers' Neonatal Resuscitation Knowledge

Front Pediatr. 2021 Jan 18:8:599638. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.599638. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Simran K Ghoman^{1

2}, Maria Cutumisu^{1

3

4}, Georg M Schmölzer^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Neonatal Research Unit, Centre for the Studies of Asphyxia and Resuscitation, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
² Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
³ Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
⁴ Department of Computing Science, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

Abstract

Purpose: To safely care for their newborn patients, health-care professionals (HCP) must undergo frequent training to improve and maintain neonatal resuscitation knowledge and skills. However, the current approach to neonatal resuscitation simulation training is time and resource-intensive, and often inaccessible. Digital neonatal resuscitation simulation may present a convenient alternative for more frequent training. Method: Fifty neonatal HCPs participated in the study (44 female; 27 nurses, 3 nurse practitioners, 14 respiratory therapists, 6 doctors). This study was conducted at a tertiary perinatal center in Edmonton, Canada from April-August 2019, with 2-month (June-October 2019) and 5-month (September 2019-January 2020) follow-up. Neonatal HCPs were recruited by volunteer sampling to complete a demographic survey, pre-test (baseline knowledge), two digital simulation scenarios (intervention), and post-test (knowledge acquisition). Two months later, participants repeated the post-test (knowledge retention). Five months after the initial intervention, participants completed a post-test using a table-top simulation (knowledge transfer). Longitudinal analyses were used to compare participants' performance over time. Results: Overall the proportion of correct performance increased: 21/50 (42%) passed the pre-test, 39/50 (78%) the post-test, 30/43 (70%) the 2-month post-test, and 32/40 (80%) the 5-month post-test. GLMM and GEE analyses revealed that performance on all post-tests was significantly better than the performance on the pre-test. Therefore, training with the RETAIN digital simulation effectively improves, maintains, and transfers HCPs' neonatal resuscitation knowledge. Conclusions: Digital simulation improved, maintained, and helped transfer HCPs' neonatal resuscitation knowledge over time. Digital simulation presents a promising approach for frequent neonatal resuscitation training, particularly for distance-learning applications.

Keywords: digital simulation; digital simulator; healthcare education; neonatal resuscitation; simulation; simulation based education; table-top simulator.