Pediatric Critical Care Simulation Curriculum: Training Nurse Practitioners to Lead in the Management of Critically Ill Children

Abstract

Introduction: Acute care pediatric nurse practitioners have become frontline providers in the critical care environment and are expected to provide leadership in acutely critical situations. We describe a 2-day, high-fidelity, simulation-based curriculum focused on training the pediatric nurse practitioners for leadership in critical care scenarios.

Method: This prospective pre-post interventional study used simulation-based pedagogy. Knowledge tests, time-to-task, and a follow-up survey were used to determine the effectiveness of the training.

Results: Participants (n = 23) improved their knowledge scores by 27% (pretest: 35.2% [standard deviation = 12.1%]; posttest: 62.2% [standard deviation = 13.8%], p < .001). In addition, time-to-task for resuscitation variables improved significantly. At 3 months, 100% of the participants who responded either agreed (15.4%) or strongly agreed (84.6%) that the boot camp prepared them to lead in a critical emergency.

Discussion: Simulation-based training is an effective strategy for educating critical care pediatric nurse practitioners and improves their ability to manage pediatric emergencies rapidly, which can be lifesaving.

Keywords: Acute care; pediatric nurse practitioner; rapid-cycle deliberate practice; resuscitation; simulation.