Education
The THSSC collaborates with faculty, representatives from the community, and clinical experts to ensure that the technology based and clinical simulation learning programs are designed to prepare the future healthcare workforce with the skills required to meet the ever evolving needs of the 21st century.
The THSSC is designed as a safe, realistic healthcare delivery environment where students and clinicians practice critical thinking, clinical judgment and technical skills. Simulation learning is spiraled through the curricula and scenarios progress from basic to complex according to the level of the learner. Simulation sessions are an integral part of the curriculum for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs– bridging the gap between academe and clinical practice. Modalities include mid and high fidelity manikins. Simulated patients (actors) are utilized for psychiatric and highly emotional simulated sessions to maintain realism and learner engagement. Patient safety, family/patient centered care, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking are themes woven into each simulation session.
Interprofessional Education (IPE)
In 2014, the Deans and Directors of the University of Hawaii Council of Health Sciences (CHS) established the Hawaii Interprofessional Education (HIPE) workgroup. The members include the UH Manoa School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work with the Office of Public Health Studies, UH Cancer Center, and the UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.
The HIPE workgroup has integrated IPE into the curriculum of each school. A IPE foundation curriculum as well as simulation and clinical practica were developed to ensure that each graduate from the CHS programs meets the interprofessional core competencies, recommended by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC). THSSC is committed to creation of IPE sessions that provide a safe venue to practice teamwork and collaboration skills.
Highlights of the IPE sessions include:
- HIPSTER: Hawaii Interprofessional Simulation Training for Emergency Response
- 4-hour simulation focused on improving teamwork and communication skills among members of the healthcare team. Cases focus on care of patients experiencing Medical Emergencies.
- HIPTCS: Hawaii Interprofessional Team Collaboration Simulation
- 4-hour simulation aimed at improving healthcare team collaboration skills. The case simulates a team discharge planning meeting and focuses on the unique needs of an elderly woman who is hospitalized after a fall related to multiple factors including a polypharmacy issue.
- Disaster and Its Aftermath
- 4-hour table-top simulation session focused on an interprofessional teams of students collaborating to respond to a disaster (a Tsunami wave) and the issues that occur in the ensuing days after the initial event (“The Aftermath”). Immediately after the Tsunami, teams work collaboratively to triage victims, provide first aid and organize the transport of victims. The session then takes place weeks after the disaster and public health issues that result from lack of resources.
- TeliPORT: Telepresence InterProfessional RoboT simulation
- 4-hour interprofessional simulation focuses on the concepts of telehealth. During the sessions, telepresence robots are utilized to conduct pharmacy consultation during complex simulation situations.
- RCA2: Root Cause Analysis and Action
- 4-hour table-top simulation with teams of interprofessional students investigating a patient safety event, identifying causal factors, and developing an action plan to prevent the same or a similar event from happening again.
- Houseless IPE simulation
- 4-hour online synchronous interprofessional simulation where teams of interprofessional students focus on care for houseless individuals. In part 1, students experience an online choose-your-adventure style simulated activity designed to cultivate awareness and empathy regarding the choices and situations that houseless individuals are faced with (adapted from Project Rise Seeking Shelter app). In part 2, students hold a discussion on interprofessional roles in caring for the houseless population and innovate supportive policy changes.
Community
A variety of simulation activities/training workshops are developed, implemented and evaluated in partnership with health care organizations in the State of Hawaii. Each program is individualized to meet the unique needs of the user group and past partnerships include:
- The Queen’s Health Systems – simulations focused on enhancing critical thinking, communication and team collaboration.
- Hawaii Pacific Health – simulations ranging from birth to end of life scenarios.
- LIFESAVE – Kupono Transport – simulations of emergency transport by air for interprofessional members of the air transport teams.
International
A variety of workshops are developed, implemented and evaluated in partnership with health care organizations and universities/schools from Asia and the Pacific Basin. Partnerships include faculty and student nurse training programs for:
- Seitoku University (Japan)
- Tokyo Healthcare University (Japan)
- Wuhan University (China)
- Hirosaki University (Japan)
- Yokohama City University (Japan)
- Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Nursing University (Japan)