There have been numerous technological advancements in the school setting that pertain to healthcare. Among the technologies that I find beneficial is simulation. This technology entails the provision of models that enhance the execution of real life processes. It becomes easier to understand how systems and processes work, and their behavior when certain variables change (Nestel et al., 2017).

Simulation is useful since it aids in the acquisition of clinical skills by way of deliberate practice as opposed to learning through apprentice since the tools provided tend to substitute real patients. Medical practitioners training in the simulation labs can easily learn from their mistakes as there is no inherent fear of harming patients. As a result, this helps to build confidence and enables the practicing of skills. Learners tend to take a minimal period to acquire the required competence given this enabling environment (Lamé & Dixon-Woods, 2018). Simulation has the ability to create a certain environment whereby practitioners have an opportunity to react in a similar fashion as they would in a real life scenario. This is something that will work towards improving patient safety in varied areas.

Despite the benefits that come with simulation, there are some aspects that might make the technology not very beneficial. Among them is the tendency of simulation to focus on specific competencies while neglecting others. The financial and spatial resources used are also vast hence bringing the debate of inherent return on investment (Scerbo, 2020). Lack of social interaction that comes with simulation can result in increased anxiety once the medical practitioners are involved with real-life patients and negatively affect the ability to hold therapeutic conversations as they commence interaction with patients.

Simulation can be improved further by the introduction of models that are more human like. This would include having models that entail more human-like attributes; models that seem like a human body that is alive. These are simulation models that can react to care in that they have a real range of motion, there is the flow of blood, and skin with human-level temperature.

References

Lamé, G., & Dixon-Woods, M. (2018). Using clinical simulation to study how to improve quality and safety in healthcare. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(2), 87–94. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjstel-2018-000370

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2017). Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nestel, D., Kelly, M., Jolly, B., & Watson, M. (2017). Healthcare Simulation Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice (1st ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

Scerbo, M. W. (2020). Simulation in Healthcare in the Midst of the Pandemic. Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, 15(6), 373–374. https://doi.org/10.1097/sih.0000000000000533