Effectiveness of Bi-lingual Multidisciplinary Simulation-based Training in Improving Communication and Breaking Bad-News Skills

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Abstract

Background : Healthcare worker (HCW)-patient communication is an essential element of every patient’s journey, and evidence links good communication with favourable patient experiences and outcomes. Simulation-based training (SBT) is a promising and effective tool to improve such communication.

Aim : To develop a bilingual SBT programme in communication skills for all HCWs in an academic tertiary hospital, to improve patient care, experiences and outcomes.

Methods: This was a quasi-experimental design, conducted in 2018 at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). We designed and delivered a bilingual, simulation-based, full-day course for HCWs (both clinical and administrative), and measured its impact by comparing pre- and post-course test scores, participant feedback, and instructor performance satisfaction indices.

Results : We trained 318 HCWs over 15 days, using 10 instructors. Post-test scores showed individual and overall improvement. The average scores were 26.6% (14-40%) for the pre-test and 55.8% (37-70%) for the post-test, with an average improvement of 29% (P<0.005). Participant feedback was 77% positive and in favour of more training. The average instructor performance satisfaction score was 96.2% (92-99%).

Conclusion : We demonstrated the positive impact of SBT on communication skills for both clinical and administrative HCWs. We also demonstrated the sustainability and scalability of this course.

Keywords: Breaking bad news, Communication, NURSE, Simulation education, SPIKES

Introduction

Healthcare worker (HCW)-patient communication has been shown to play an integral role in the suc- cess of therapeutic outcomes in all medical settings. Multiple studies have shown the potential negative impact of poor patient-centred communication on clinical outcomes [1-5]. A 2010 review [2] showed that “...communication has the potential to help regulate patients’ emotions, facilitate comprehen- sion of medical information, and allow for better identification of patients’ needs, perceptions, and expectations...” and that “... Patients reporting good communication with their doctor are more likely to be satisfied with their care, and especially to share pertinent information for accurate diagnosis of their problems, follow advice, and adhere to the prescribed treatment...”. It also showed that clini- cians tend to overestimate their skills when it comes to patient communication [2]. In addition to this over-estimation, the literature found other barriers to proper HCW-patient communication, including cultural differences, patient fears, provider anxiety, burden of work, and lack of training.

Simulation-based training (SBT) is a promising training modality that can be utilised to address this gap, improving patient communication and hence clinical outcomes. Hybrid simulation inte- grated training in communication and breaking bad news has resulted in improved providers’ commu- nication skills, as well as providing an opportunity to identify and address individual and system gaps [10,11].

As part of its continuous efforts, the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center (CSSC) at King Ab- dulaziz University (KAU) initiated this project with

the aim of improving the communication skills of its HCWs. The study includes possibly the highest number of participants out of any study in the lit- erature; we have not found any previous report that approaches more than tens of participants. Another unique feature of this study is the fact that we used Arabic translation of the tools for breaking bad news: SPIKES, NURSE and CUS. SPIKES (Setting up, Perception, Invitation, Knowledge, Emotions, Strategy/Summary) is a six-step tool for breaking bad news; NURSE (Naming, Understanding, Re- specting, Supporting, Exploring) is a helpful tool for addressing patient emotion; and CUS (Concerned, Uncomfortable, Safety) is a third tool for helping to improve communication [7-9].

These tools are described in the literature as having been used effectively in English and a few other languages, but our report contains the first mention of their use in the Arabic language. In addition, the training of administrative HCWs in such a project has not previously been reported in the literature.

In this study, we sought to develop a bilingual SBT programme in communication skills (including breaking bad news and difficult communication) for all HCWs at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), as part of a continuous effort to improve patient care, experiences and outcomes.

Materials and Methods

A. Study Design

This is a quasi-experimental design, conducted in 2018 over a period of five months (April-September) in the CSSC at KAUH.

B. Study Tools:

The course was developed by simulation and education experts working at the CSSC. An interdis- ciplinary committee of physicians, nurses and edu- cators designed a bilingual, full-day (eight hours) SBT course for HCWs at KAUH. We recruited 10 instructors (simulation experts) from various disciplines (anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, paediatrics, quality improvement and education spe- cialists) and backgrounds (physicians, nurses, ad- ministration, management and professional actors). All instructors received unified training from the

course directors to ensure a standardised delivery method.

C. Study Participants:

Participants were recruited randomly. Both elec- tronic and written course invitations were distributed within the hospital and made available to all HCWs at KAUH. No preferences or exclusion criteria were used; seats were allocated on a first-come, first- served basis to avoid any biases by pre-selecting participants. We ensured that the invitations were extended to non-clinical as well as clinical HCWs.

D. Implementation:

The course consisted of four phases.

Phase A: Introduction and Pre-test (30 minutes):

Each course started with an introduction, which included a pre-test. The questions targeted the de- termined objectives of the course. The test was reviewed by 10 educators and was piloted on 20 participants to ensure its validity and reliability. It consisted of 14 multiple choice questions (MCQ) and one short answer question. The MCQs covered routes and modes of communication, verbal and non-verbal communication, while the short answer question was about tools used when breaking bad news (Appendix 1). Participants were also provided with handouts containing learning materials.

Phase B: Didactic sessions (240 minutes):

The introduction was followed by four didactic sessions of 60 minutes each, including breaks (Table 1).

Phase C: Practice Groups (180 minutes)

The didactic sessions were followed by two 90- minute practice sessions, using advanced illness sce- narios pre-written with the consensus of simulation experts (Table 2).

The instructions for scenario implementation were:

Divide participants into subgroups of three to five. In each subgroup, one participant will be assigned

Translation of validated communication and tools for breaking bad news, such as SPIKES, NURSE and CUS, into the Arabic language for clinical use

Table I. LIST OF 60- MINUTE DIDACTIC SESSIONS
Session 1 Modes of communication
Session 2 Verbal and non-verbal communication
Session 3 Small group communication
Session 4 Difficult communication and toolsused to break bad news in a clinical setting
TABLEII
LIST OF STANDARDISED PATIENTCASE SCENARIOS
Case Sudden death of a family member from severe septic shock.
1
Case Unexpected lifesaving emergent Caesarean section withsevere post-partum haemorrhage, requiring vascular
2 ligation and possible hysterectomy.
Case Hospital staff termination of employment due to poorperformance.
3
Case Medical error (medication administration error) resultingin severe morbidity.
4
Case Medical error (unnecessary intervention) resulting in complicationnecessitating invasive treatment.
5
Case A senior requesting fraudulent documentation upon apatient’s death.
6
Case Escalating situation wherein a patient requesting non-emergencyservices at the Emergency Room becomes
7 increasingly aggravated by delays.
Case A co-worker requesting hospital registration and examinationof a family member under a different patient file
8 due to administrative and financial issues.
as “delivering the news (doctor)” and one as “receiv-satisfaction. Given the timing of the pre- and post-
ing the news (patient, relative or another doctor)”,tests just before and after the intervention (course),
while the rest of the subgroup actively observes thewe can conclude that the intervention is the only
communication process and documents their obser-possible cause of the observed outcome. The pre-
vations. Each assigned participant is given two totest and post-test scores were used as a measure
three minutes to read through their role. When theyof the improvement in knowledge that could reflect
are ready, they engage in the role-play for 7 to 10on employee performance and patient satisfaction in
minutes. When the role-play is finished, 15 minutesfuture practice. Participant feedback and satisfaction
are allocated for feedback. The debriefing formatscores were collected as a supporting measure and
was based on the well-known Plus-Delta methodto provide ongoing formative assessment to the
[12], focusing simply on general description, whatcourse instructors, using open-ended questions and
went well (WWW) and things to improve (TTI),Likert’s scale as appropriate.
followed by case conclusion, whereupon anotherTo ensure accuracy and completeness, data were
scenario commenced.collected manually by an independent CSSC em-
ployee, who had no interest in the success of failure
E. Phase D: Wrap-up and evaluation (30 minutes)of the course, without any identifying information
Following the practice session, a summary ses-and in such a way that answers could not be traced
sion was conducted which included the post-testto individual participants. There was no missing
and evaluations. The post-test covered the coursedata.
contents and the questions were identical to thoseWe conducted a descriptive analysis of the data.
in the pre-test.Data collection, coding and analysis were completed
To measure the impact of the project, we analysedmanually, using GraphPad Prism 8. We used mul-
the pre test and post test scores collected feedbacktiple measures of dispersion and cross tabulations
ables as percentages or frequencies, as appropriate.scenario exercises (7 comments), mandating the
To measure the difference between pre-test andcourse to hospital staff (6 comments), providing cer-
post-test scores, we used a paired t-test with atificates of completion (1 comment), and providing
significance level of p ≤ <0.05.more video materials (1 comment).
This training course involved minimal ethicalInstructor performance satisfaction indices: Ten
risks, with the participants’ privacy and well-beinginstructors participated in this course. All partici-
assured prior to and throughout the course. Givenpants responded to the questionnaire, and the av-
the difficult nature of breaking bad news, partici-erage instructor performance satisfaction score was
pants were offered access to appropriate resources96.2% (92-99%).
in case of any unanticipated psychological stress.
Ethics committee approval was received for thisIV. DISCUSSION
study from the Unit of Biomedical Ethics at KAUThis study has demonstrated the feasibility, sig-
School of Medicine (Reference No. 413-20). Con-nificance and reproducibility of a multidisciplinary
sents were waived during the ethical approval, sinceSBT programme that focuses on improving HCWs’
no personal or traceable data were collected.communication and breaking bad news skills. The
number of participants in this project is one of the
III. RESULTSmost sizable reported in the literature. Furthermore,
The course was repeated a total of 15 timesto the best of our knowledge, this project is the
(8 times in the Arabic language and 7 times infirst of its kind to include administrative staff, and
English), with a total of 318 participants (rangingthe first to translate communication tools such as
from 13-27 participants per course), representingSPIKES, NURSE and CUS [7-9] into the Arabic
10-15% of the total number of KAUH employees.language for clinical practice.
Participants were interdisciplinary; 105 (33%) wereOur results demonstrated a positive impact on
female and 213 (67%) male; and they represented allknowledge acquisition after completing the course.
the major clinical (69%) and administrative (31%)These results are aligned with multiple previous re-
hospital departments (Table 3).search protocols [6] that showed the positive impact
of communication training for General Practition-
Pre-test/post-test analysis: All participants com-ers, both on post-training test scores (similarly to
pleted the tests. All of the individual courses, as wellour study) and on behaviour during patient inter-
as the overall test results, showed an improvementviews [6]. Similar positive impacts were repeatedly
in test scores (figure 1). A paired t-test was useddemonstrated when role-play was used with stan-
for analysis where appropriate. The average pre-dardised patients and/or training for clinical students
and post-test scores for the 15 courses were 26.6%[10], trainees [11] and/or clinicians in different
(14-40%) and 55.8% (37-70%) respectively. Thespecialties, including nurses, social workers and
statistically significant mean differences was 29.20,chaplains.
standard deviation of difference was 17.86, andRecent systematic reviews have not revealed a
standard error of mean of difference was 4.611,single study that investigates the potential effect
with a 95% confidence interval; 19.31 to 39.09,of communication training on non-clinical admin-
correlation coefficient (r) -0.6579 (figure 1).istrative HCWs [13,14]. Our project demonstrated
a positive impact not only on clinical HCWs, but
Participant feedback: Only 35 participants pro-also on administrative HCWs. The integration of
vided the optional written feedback. Overall, 77% ofmultidisciplinary participants, including non-clinical
the feedback was positive. The 23% negative feed-HCWs, did not impede the learning process; rather,
back was related to centre facilities (5 comments)it was viewed as an advantage to facilitate knowl-
and the provision of better materials (3 comments).edge transfer across disciplines.
T l ti f lid t d i ti d t l
Table II. LIST OF STANDARDISED PATIENT CASE SCENARIOS
Case Sudden death of a family member from severe septic shock.
1
Case Unexpected lifesaving emergent Caesarean section withsevere post-partum haemorrhage, requiring vascular
2 ligation and possible hysterectomy.
Case Hospital staff termination of employment due to poorperformance.
3
Case Medical error (medication administration error) resultingin severe morbidity.
4
Case Medical error (unnecessary intervention) resulting in complicationnecessitating invasive treatment.
5
Case A senior requesting fraudulent documentation upon apatient’s death.
6
Case Escalating situation wherein a patient requesting non-emergencyservices at the Emergency Room becomes
7 increasingly aggravated by delays.
Case A co-worker requesting hospital registration and examinationof a family member under a different patient file
8 due to administrative and financial issues.
as “delivering the news (doctor)” and one as “receiv-satisfaction. Given the timing of the pre- and post-
ing the news (patient, relative or another doctor)”,tests just before and after the intervention (course),
while the rest of the subgroup actively observes thewe can conclude that the intervention is the only
communication process and documents their obser-possible cause of the observed outcome. The pre-
vations. Each assigned participant is given two totest and post-test scores were used as a measure
three minutes to read through their role. When theyof the improvement in knowledge that could reflect
are ready, they engage in the role-play for 7 to 10on employee performance and patient satisfaction in
minutes. When the role-play is finished, 15 minutesfuture practice. Participant feedback and satisfaction
are allocated for feedback. The debriefing formatscores were collected as a supporting measure and
was based on the well-known Plus-Delta methodto provide ongoing formative assessment to the
[12], focusing simply on general description, whatcourse instructors, using open-ended questions and
went well (WWW) and things to improve (TTI),Likert’s scale as appropriate.
followed by case conclusion, whereupon anotherTo ensure accuracy and completeness, data were
scenario commenced.collected manually by an independent CSSC em-
ployee, who had no interest in the success of failure
E. Phase D: Wrap-up and evaluation (30 minutes)of the course, without any identifying information
Following the practice session, a summary ses-and in such a way that answers could not be traced
sion was conducted which included the post-testto individual participants. There was no missing
and evaluations. The post-test covered the coursedata.
contents and the questions were identical to thoseWe conducted a descriptive analysis of the data.
in the pre-test.Data collection, coding and analysis were completed
To measure the impact of the project, we analysedmanually, using GraphPad Prism 8. We used mul-
the pre test and post test scores collected feedbacktiple measures of dispersion and cross tabulations
ables as percentages or frequencies, as appropriate.scenario exercises (7 comments), mandating the
To measure the difference between pre-test andcourse to hospital staff (6 comments), providing cer-
post-test scores, we used a paired t-test with atificates of completion (1 comment), and providing
significance level of p ≤ <0.05.more video materials (1 comment).
This training course involved minimal ethicalInstructor performance satisfaction indices: Ten
risks, with the participants’ privacy and well-beinginstructors participated in this course. All partici-
assured prior to and throughout the course. Givenpants responded to the questionnaire, and the av-
the difficult nature of breaking bad news, partici-erage instructor performance satisfaction score was
pants were offered access to appropriate resources96.2% (92-99%).
in case of any unanticipated psychological stress.
Ethics committee approval was received for thisIV. DISCUSSION
study from the Unit of Biomedical Ethics at KAUThis study has demonstrated the feasibility, sig-
School of Medicine (Reference No. 413-20). Con-nificance and reproducibility of a multidisciplinary
sents were waived during the ethical approval, sinceSBT programme that focuses on improving HCWs’
no personal or traceable data were collected.communication and breaking bad news skills. The
number of participants in this project is one of the
III. RESULTSmost sizable reported in the literature. Furthermore,
The course was repeated a total of 15 timesto the best of our knowledge, this project is the
(8 times in the Arabic language and 7 times infirst of its kind to include administrative staff, and
English), with a total of 318 participants (rangingthe first to translate communication tools such as
from 13-27 participants per course), representingSPIKES, NURSE and CUS [7-9] into the Arabic
10-15% of the total number of KAUH employees.language for clinical practice.
Participants were interdisciplinary; 105 (33%) wereOur results demonstrated a positive impact on
female and 213 (67%) male; and they represented allknowledge acquisition after completing the course.
the major clinical (69%) and administrative (31%)These results are aligned with multiple previous re-
hospital departments (Table 3).search protocols [6] that showed the positive impact
of communication training for General Practition-
Pre-test/post-test analysis: All participants com-ers, both on post-training test scores (similarly to
pleted the tests. All of the individual courses, as wellour study) and on behaviour during patient inter-
as the overall test results, showed an improvementviews [6]. Similar positive impacts were repeatedly
in test scores (figure 1). A paired t-test was useddemonstrated when role-play was used with stan-
for analysis where appropriate. The average pre-dardised patients and/or training for clinical students
and post-test scores for the 15 courses were 26.6%[10], trainees [11] and/or clinicians in different
(14-40%) and 55.8% (37-70%) respectively. Thespecialties, including nurses, social workers and
statistically significant mean differences was 29.20,chaplains.
standard deviation of difference was 17.86, andRecent systematic reviews have not revealed a
standard error of mean of difference was 4.611,single study that investigates the potential effect
with a 95% confidence interval; 19.31 to 39.09,of communication training on non-clinical admin-
correlation coefficient (r) -0.6579 (figure 1).istrative HCWs [13,14]. Our project demonstrated
a positive impact not only on clinical HCWs, but
Participant feedback: Only 35 participants pro-also on administrative HCWs. The integration of
vided the optional written feedback. Overall, 77% ofmultidisciplinary participants, including non-clinical
the feedback was positive. The 23% negative feed-HCWs, did not impede the learning process; rather,
back was related to centre facilities (5 comments)it was viewed as an advantage to facilitate knowl-
and the provision of better materials (3 comments).edge transfer across disciplines.
T l ti f lid t d i ti d t l
Table III. PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS
Participant distributionby specialty
Administrative99 31.1%
Nurse94 29.5%
Physician44 13.8%
Technician24 7.5%
Dietitian17 5.3%
Pharmacist11 3.4%
Specialist7 2.2%
Security6 1.8%
Laboratory6 1.8%
Project & Maintenance8 2.5%
Nurse Educator2 0.6%
Attendance by department
Emergency Medicine77 24.2%
Human Resources36 11.3%
Anaesthesia & CriticalCare 20 6.3%
Nursing Administration20 6.3%
Outpatient18 5.6%
CSSC17 5.3%
would have a great impact, both on Arabic-speakinginstructions and materials.
clinicians and on their patients, providing an easier
way to build a therapeutic relationship. Moreover,V. CONCLUSION
our results demonstrated sustainability and scala-Using structured SBT has a positive impact on
bility to include a larger number of participants.improving communication and breaking bad news
The cost to scale and sustain this project after itsskills for all HCWs, including administrative per-
establishment would be minimal, attributed mainlysonnel. SBT has the potential to provide the sustain-
to staff time and availability of space. We mitigatedability and scalability of such programmes. Future
the cost by recruiting and training local instructorsstudies should continue to examine patient-related
and by using the hospital’s facilities to as a courseoutcomes and quality improvement indices of hos-
venue. Participant recruitment is a potential obstaclepital systems.
that could be overcome with strong support from
higher leadership.
SOURCE OF FUNDING: No funding was received.
Our project had certain limitations. First, although
we included 318 participants, representing 10-15%CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have no
of all of the hospital’s HCWs, the impact of theconflicts of interest.
training on the overall quality of the hospital’sETHICAL APPROVAL: ethics committee approval
service was too small without training more HCWs.was received for this paper from the unit of biomedical
Second, as with most SBT, demonstrating the directethics at King Abdulaziz University school of medicine
effect on patient outcomes is difficult; a longer pe-(reference no. 413-20). Approval date: august 2020.
riod to determine and a higher whether number a higher of participants level can be is required reachedacknowledge ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: the KAUH leadership The authors for their would invaluable like to
in Kirkpatrick’s model [15]. A third limitation wassupport, with special mention to the Vice Dean and
the large number of instructors [10] required forDirector of KAUH, Dr. Amro Alhibshi. We would also
the project; on a larger scale this might result inlike to recognise the KAU Clinical Skills and
a variation in the quality of course delivery. WeSimulation
tried to minimize this latter limitation by focusing
on instructor training and providing unified course
Center (CSSC) and its working team fortheir training assistance in this simulation
support and facilitation in running the project,programme. Finally, we extend our sincere
with special mention to Mr. Jamal Alshomran.appreciation to Stacy Brady, RN, and the
Furthermore, we would like to thank Dr.Providence VA Medical Center for their support
Abdullah Bawarith and Ms. Abeer Alhazmi forduring the preparation of this manuscript.
from:
https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/tools/ambulatory-s
VI. REFERENCESurgery/sections/implementation/training-
tools/cus-t ool.html
1. Lee SJ, Back AL, Block SD, Stewart SK9. October TW, Dizon ZB, Arnold RM,
Enhancing physician-patient communicationRosenberg AR. Characteristics of Physician
Hema- tology 2002;2002(1 :464–83Empathetic State ments During Pediatric
2. Ha JF, Longnecker N Doctor-patientIntensive Care Conferences with Family
commu- nication: a review Ochsner J 2010;10(1Members: A Qualitative Study. JAMA Network
:38–43Open. 2018;1(3): e180351. Published 2018 Jul 6
3. Norouzinia R, Aghabarari M, Shiri M,10. Dennis D, Furness A, Parry S.
Karimi M, Samami E. Communication BarriersChallenging conversations with simulated
Perceived by Nurses and Patients. Glob J Healthpatients. Clin Teach. 2017;14(6):397–400.
Sci. 4. 2015;8(6):65–74. Jangland, Eva, Lena Gunningberg, and11. Lifchez SD, Redett RJ 3rd. A standardized
Maria Carlsson. “Patients’ and relatives’patient model to teach and assess
complaints about encounters and communicationprofessionalism and communication skills: the
in health care: evidence for qualityeffect of personality type on performance. J Surg
improvement.” Patient Education andEduc. 2014;71(3):297–301.
Counseling 2009; 199-204.12. Debriefing for clinical learning [Internet]
5. Newell S, Jordan. The patient experience ofPa- tient Safety Network [cited 2020 May5]
patient-centered communication with nurses inAvail- able from: https://psnet ahrq
the hospital setting: a qualitative systematicgov/primer/debriefing- clinical-learning
review pro- tocol. JBI Database System Rev13. Kozhevnikov D, Morrison LJ, Ellman MS.
Implement Rep. 2015;13(1):76–87.Simulation training in palliative care: State of the
6. Bensing JM, Sluijs EM. Evaluation of anart and Future Directions. Advances in Medical
interview training course for GeneralEducation and Practice. 2018;Volume 9:915–24.
Practitioners. Social Science & Medicine.14. Randall D, Garbutt D, Barnard M. Using
1985;20(7):737–44.simulation as a learning experience in clinical
7. Baile WF, Buckman R, Lenzi R, Glober G,teams to learn about palliative and end-of-life
Beale EA, Kudelka AP. SPIKES - A six-step pro-care: A literature review. Death Stud.
tocol for delivering bad news: application to the2018;42(3):172–183.
patient with cancer. Oncologist. 2000;5(4):302-15. Johnston S, Coyer FM, Nash R.
311.Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation of Simulation and
8. CUS tool - improving communication andDebriefing in Health Care Education: A
teamwork in the surgical environment moduleSystematic Review. J Nurs Educ.
[Internet]. AHRQ. [cited 2020 May5]. Available2018;57(7):393- 398.
The average pre-test and post-test scores were 26.6% (14-40%) and 55.8% (37-70%) respectively.
Figure 1. The average pre-test and post-test scores were 26.6% (14-40%) and 55.8% (37-70%) respectively.

References

  1. Lee SJ, Back AL, Block SD, Stewart SK Enhancing physician-patient communication Hematology 2002;2002(1 :464–83
  2. Ha JF, Longnecker N Doctor-patient communication: a review Ochsner J 2010;10(1 :38–43
  3. Norouzinia R, Aghabarari M, Shiri M, Karimi M, Samami E. Communication Barriers Perceived by Nurses and Patients. Glob J Health Sci. 2015;8(6):65–74.
  4. Jangland, Eva, Lena Gunningberg, and Maria Carlsson. “Patients’ and relatives’ complaints about encounters and communication in health care: evidence for quality improvement.” Patient Education and Counseling 2009; 199-204.
  5. Newell S, Jordan. The patient experience of patient-centered communication with nurses in the hospital setting: a qualitative systematic review protocol. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2015;13(1):76–87.
  6. Bensing JM, Sluijs EM. Evaluation of an General for course interview training Medicine. & Science Practitioners. Social 1985;20(7):737–44.
  7. Baile WF, Buckman R, Lenzi R, Glober G, Beale EA, Kudelka AP. SPIKES - A six-step protocol for delivering bad news: application to the patient with cancer. Oncologist. 2000;5(4):302-311.
  8. CUS tool - improving communication and teamwork in the surgical environment module [Internet]. AHRQ. [cited 2020 May5]. Available from: https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/tools/ambulatory-s urgery/sections/implementation/trainingtools/cus-t ool.html
  9. October TW, Dizon ZB, Arnold RM, Rosenberg Physician AR. Characteristics of Empathetic State Pediatric ments During Intensive Care Conferences with Family Members: A Qualitative Study. JAMA Network Open. 2018;1(3): e180351. Published 2018 Jul 6
  10. Parry S. A, Dennis D, Furness Challenging conversations with simulated patients. Clin Teach. 2017;14(6):397–400.
  11. Lifchez SD, Redett RJ 3 rd. A standardized patient model to teach and assess professionalism and communication skills: the effect of personality type on performance. J Surg Educ. 2014;71(3):297–301.
  12. Debriefing for clinical learning [Internet] Patient Safety Network [cited 2020 May5] Available from: https://psnet ahrq gov/primer/debriefingclinical-learning
  13. Kozhevnikov D, Morrison LJ, Ellman MS. Simulation training in palliative care: State of the art and Future Directions. Advances in Medical Education and Practice. 2018;Volume 9:915–24.
  14. Randall D, Garbutt D, Barnard M. Using simulation as a learning experience in clinical teams to learn about palliative and end-of-life care: A literature review. Death Stud. 2018;42(3):172–183.
  15. R. FM, Nash Johnston S, Coyer Kirkpatrick’s and Simulation of Evaluation in Debriefing Health A Education: Care Systematic Review. Educ. Nurs J 2018;57(7):393-398. Figure 1: The average pre-test and post-test scores were 26.6% (14-40%) and 55.8% (37-70%) respectively.