SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH APPROACHES USED

Systematic analysis of research approaches used within published research relating to Health Professionals clinical simulation

Abstract

Medical simulation has come a long way eversince it was first introduced way back in the 1960's. Healthcare scientists and practioners together understand the implications of health and treatment and the practice of simulation will bring better health on the whole. Table of Contents

Introduction-------------------------------------4

Background---------------------------------------8

Conclusion---------------------------------------26

References-------------------------------------- 33

Systematic analysis of research approaches used within published research relating to Health Professionals clinical simulation

Introduction

Unified models clearly have the potential to influence personal health choices, clinical practice, and public health. So is this a paradigm for the future? The first paradigm of healthcare information might be considered to be the case history plus expert physician, formalized by Hippocrates more than 2,000 years ago and still an important part of clinical practice. In the second paradigm, a medical record is shared among a set of complementary clinicians, each focusing their specialized knowledge on the patient's condition in turn.

The third paradigm is evidence-based healthcare that links a network of health professionals with knowledge and patient records in a timely manner. This third paradigm is still in the process of being realized, particularly in regard to capturing the complexities of clinical practice in a digital record and making some aspects of healthcare computable. We anticipate a fourth paradigm of healthcare information, mirroring that of other disciplines, whereby an individual's health data are aggregated from multiple sources and attached to a unified model of that person's health. Since it was first introduced more than 30 years ago, clinical simulation has become a popular tool for medical training, particularly in crisis management. The modern high-fidelity patient simulator consists of a whole-body mannequin with integrated electronic patient monitoring; it is controlled by computers capable of simulating numerous clinical scenarios and patient characteristics, and reacting to various interventions appropriately.

The sources can range from body area network sensors to clinical expert oversight and interpretation, with the individual playing a much greater part than at present in building and acting on his or her health information. Since that time, advances in technology have led to the development of more sophisticated simulation systems, which provide a highly complex model of human physiology and pharmacology that responds to drugs and other interventions like a human patient. Some of these systems are available as computer simulation programmes with multimedia features that include computer graphics and real-time audio capability. Incorporating all of this data, the unified model will take on the role of a “health avatar”—the electronic representation of an individual's health as directly measured or inferred by statistical models or clinicians. (Rowley, B. 2004, Pp. 123)

Clinicians interacting with a patient's avatar can achieve a more integrated view of different specialist treatment plans than they do with care records alone. Once broadband reaches into most homes the ability to deliver healthcare through telemedicine will expand from a limited number of demonstration projects to become a key part of mainstream medicine (Bashur et ...