The community of inquiry framework for virtual team-to-team debriefings during interprofessional trauma simulations

Karen J Dickinson; Mary Katherine Kimbrough; Amanda Young; Clayton Goddard; Kelly Urban; Kyle J Kalkwarf; Avi Bhavaraju; Joseph Margolick

doi:10.1007/s44186-022-00013-4

The community of inquiry framework for virtual team-to-team debriefings during interprofessional trauma simulations

Global Surg Educ. 2022;1(1):11. doi: 10.1007/s44186-022-00013-4. Epub 2022 Mar 28.

Authors

Karen J Dickinson^{1

2}, Mary Katherine Kimbrough², Amanda Young³, Clayton Goddard⁴, Kelly Urban⁵, Kyle J Kalkwarf², Avi Bhavaraju², Joseph Margolick²

Affiliations

¹ Office of Interprofessional Education, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR USA.
² Department of Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.
³ Deparment of Emergency Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.
⁴ Metropolitan Emergency Medicine Services, Arkansas, Little Rock, USA.
⁵ College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: Psychological safety is key to effective debriefing and learning. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid adaption of simulation events to virtual/hybrid platforms. We sought to determine the effect of utilizing the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI) for debriefing virtually connecting interprofessional learner teams on the psychological safety experienced during trauma simulations.

Methods: General surgery (GSR), emergency medicine (EMR) residents, trauma nurses/nurse practitioners and medical students participated in multiple simulation events designed to improve teamwork and leadership skills. Pre-course materials were provided before the event for learners to prepare. Briefings delineating expectations emphasized importance of and strategies employed to achieve psychological safety. Four unique clinical scenarios were run for each simulation event, with a debrief after each scenario. Virtual team-to-team debriefings were structured using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) conceptual framework. All learners completed pre-/post-assessments utilizing Inter-professional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS).

Results: Twenty-five learners participated (13 GSR, 5 EMR, 3 medical students, 2 trauma APRNs and 2 trauma RNs). Learner assessment found 88% (22) "agreed"/"strongly agreed" that virtual team-to-team debriefing had social, cognitive and educator presence per the CoI domains. However, one GSR and two nurse learners "strongly disagreed" with these statements. Most learners felt the debriefing was effective and safe. All participants "strongly agreed"/"agreed" the simulation achieved ICCAS competencies.

Conclusions: Debriefings utilizing a virtual platform are challenging with multiple barriers to ensuring psychological safety and efficacy. By structuring debriefings using the CoI framework we demonstrate they can be effective for most learners. However, educators should recognize the implications of social identity theory, particularly the effects of hierarchy, on comfort level of learners. Developing strategies to optimize virtual simulation learning environments is essential as this valuable pedagogy persists during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Debrief; Debriefing; Interprofessional; Psychological safety; Simulation; Trauma.