Safer care at home: use of simulation training to improve standards

One of the fundamental problems facing providers and commissioners of health services is how to maintain the skills and knowledge of the workforce during the initial development and implementation of home care services. This small-scale project sought to ascertain if it was possible to use human patient simulation scenarios to educate community nurses about how to recognize when care at home is appropriate and when it is not. A series of scenarios were developed and delivered to small groups of community nursing staff. A total of 18 qualified nurses took part in the project. Participants were asked to report their level of confidence in the diagnosis, management and recognition of patient deterioration for each of the scenarios prior to and after the session. The results show increased confidence across all participants in each of the scenarios.