August 24, 2022By Lance Baily

sim2grow Curriculum Strengthens Medication Administration Training

sim2grow curriculum

Healthcare simulation-based training can help promote nursing success in a number of ways, one of which is through medication administration simulation. Nursing simulation company, sim2grow, believes that nursing learners should be entitled to unlimited practice because unpreparedness during the administration of medication can lead to fatal mistakes. Further, sim2grow shared that, before using the company’s system, customers reported being dissatisfied with their current medication administration training, and not adequate to ensure nursing learners had truly mastered the skill. This HealthySimulation.com article explains how sim2grow’s medication administration simulation solution now better prepares these learners for their patient safety responsibilities in the field.

Important to note, across healthcare simulation centers and academic environments, one of the greatest barriers to medication administration training has been equipment. Often, the equipment used to teach learners how to safely administer medication in the lab is outdated, complicated, or simply inadequate. This is why leadership at sim2grow, who are nurse educators themselves, decided there had to be a better way to teach this important skill. They knew they wanted a complete med room to bedside solution that would offer a way for learners to safely pass med, and set forth to create such a solution.

During this process, another realization was that having a quick set-up with no upkeep was a
Must-have, as most nurse educators didn’t have a degree in computer programming or pharmacy. Further, they shouldn’t need one just to run the clinical simulation equipment, sim2grow leadership argued. Instead, they simply deserve a total medication administration training solution that provides unlimited practice and builds confidence in the safety of the nursing program. These necessary assurances led the company to develop a 20-part medication administration curriculum. Below is an overview of how this curriculum is broken down.

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Medication Administration Curriculum Breakdown

1. Skills Lab: Skill acquisition is the most obvious use case for the sim2grow medication administration training solution. No need for learners to practice in a vacuum. Administer meds in the context of a patient scenario complete with an eMAR. Use deliberate practice until learners develop muscle memory.

2. Simulation: Medication administration should be part of nearly every simulation scenario for nursing learners. Relying on med pass in the clinical setting is inadequate exposure for this critical skill.

3. Remediation: Learners are not cookie cutter duplicates. They have different learning styles. Some learners take longer to pick up on things. Others may have an educational plan with accommodations. Hands-on practice in the nursing lab provides the repetition that may allow an “aha moment”. They finally get it and are ready to master the next concept. Medication administration remediation is easy with sim2grow’s solution.

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4. Disruption: Medication disruption simulations can be designed to include distractions as the medication is being prepared and/or at the bedside. Debriefing after the experience can uncover significant insights, including high-risk situations. Ways to avoid being distracted and to avoid being a distraction are points to be emphasized.

5. Classroom-Fundamentals: The initial content presentation of medication administration is enhanced by bringing the sim2grow medication administration solution right into the classroom. This will save valuable lab practice time by familiarizing learners all at once in the classroom.

6. Classroom-Pharmacology: Bring pharmacology lectures to life with practical application. Create patient cases within the sim2grow system that can be used to emphasize dosages, mechanisms of action, and interactions. The system can also be used to include assessment findings that may contraindicate proceeding with administration.

7. Classroom-Case Study: Case studies are a great tool in the flipped classroom pedagogy. Level up these tabletop clinical simulations by adding the realism of an eMAR. A significant amount of information can be presented in the eMAR that requires “discovery” by the learners. Information gathering skills can be honed and clinical judgment can be developed.

8. Pre-Clinical Warm Up: Skill decay is a real thing—especially for novices. After winter and summer breaks, assign learners a set of med pass practices in the skills lab before returning to clinical sites. Learners and clinical instructors will appreciate the skill refresh and boost confidence so that the limited time spent in clinical is maximized.

9. Medication Reconciliation: Polypharmacy is an ever-growing patient care challenge. Nurses are often faced with a discrepancy between the medications ordered and those the patient usually takes at home. A simulation-based activity to practice med reconciliation with a realistic eMAR can help learners understand their role in preventing medication interactions, duplications, or dose inconsistencies.

10. Escape Room: Teamwork and communication are required skills to be successful in an Escape Room simulation-based activity. This provides is an engaging way to reinforce medication administration principles such as medication names, dosage calculations, appropriate dose, side effects and adverse effects, and relevant clinical data.

11. SBAR-Unfolding Case: Simulations are often designed with the patient experiencing a status change. These unfolding cases require a call to the provider with new medications ordered. End the pretend with sim2grow’s “Reveal Later” feature. Orders can be hidden until the appropriate time in the simulation without a break in the fictional contract.

The remaining curriculum components, which can be explained by contacting sim2grow for more information, include the following:

12. Documentation
13. Assessment
14. Patient Education
15. Dosage calculation
16. Critical Thinking/Clinical Judgement
17. Peer mentoring program
18. Incident/occurrence report
19. Speaking Up
20. Prioritization

More About sim2grow

Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, sim2grow offers a comprehensive medication administration system, strategic planning consultation for cutting-edge curriculum, and inventory management that makes sense and saves time. The medication administration system is the company’s flagship solution. Through this system, leaders can work from the medication room to the bedside using a single product, including eMAR and barcode scanning technology.

sim2GROW’s system serves as an all-inclusive solution addressing two major limitations encountered by nursing education programs. These limitations relate to teaching best practices of medication administration: price point and fidelity. With this in mind, sim2grow’s medication administration system offers low-cost solutions with a high-tech feel, allowing for unlimited high-stakes skill practice in the safety of a nursing lab.

In addition to their solutions, sim2grow teams up with nursing lab coordinators and faculty who wish to develop a strategic clinical simulation curriculum through the use of technology to promote safe practice. The company helps nursing students grow into safe, competent nurses through healthcare simulation while leveling the playing field by delivering simple affordable simulation solutions to nursing programs with tight budgets.

Learn More About sim2grow’s Medication Administration Simulation

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Administration, Education, Facilitators, Faculty / Supervisors, Featured, Learners, Patient Safety, Pharmacy
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