The Human Patient Simulation Network Conference 2017

The Human Patient Simulation Network (HPSN) UK conference took place in Nottingham on June 21–22.

CAE Healthcare sponsored the event and began proceedings on the first day by exhibiting a number of their clinical simulation products, including the unveiling of Juno – CAE’s newest mid-range adult manikin.

The conference then moved on to two sets of concurrent workshops, which covered the use of moulage in creating more realistic wounds for scenarios, integration of learning management systems, improving fidelity in simulations involving actors and CAE’s Müse software – a physiology education aid which allows for a realistic simulation experience without the use of a manikin.

Speeches were made regarding standardisation and professional registry in the simulation industry and making a case for the job title ’simulation technician’ to be changed to ‘simulation operations specialist’.

The day ended with a round table session where representatives of four simulation centres around the UK talked through the details of their centres, giving valuable insight into different approaches to simulation.

Day two of HPSN focused on education strategies for simulation based education. Dr Uttam Shiralkar opened with a fascinating talk on Cognitive simulation. He spoke about the effect of cognitive factors in simulation, the way in which changing our perceptions and processes can impact on practice.

We were able to attend interactive workshops that covered a multitude of relevant topics and studies in simulation practice. These were facilitated by hosts from across the globe and provided time for networking and sharing of ideas and experiences.

As the day progressed we were invited to participate in an interactive simulated patient journey. This followed an expectant mother through her care journey, from antenatal to postnatal appointments. The experience offered a unique insight into the scope of simulation as well as the debriefing process using actors who understand the intricacies of debriefing sim.

The conference concluded with speakers from ASPiH and INACSL, who provided updates on the exciting progress being made in the development of standards for practice in simulation based education.

We left the conference truly inspired and excited about the future of simulation and what it can bring to education at GOSH.