Faculty Development for the Use of High-Fidelity Patient Simulation: A Systematic Review

This is a systematic review of the research data between 1995 and June 2013 concerning faculty development in the use of high-fidelity patient simulation for health professionals and students with a search of the following databases: CINAHL, Nursing and Allied Health Collection: Comprehensive, OVID Medline, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Scopus, and ProQuest Dissertation/Theses Database. The primary search terms were high-fidelity patient simulation and faculty development. Reference lists from relevant articles were also reviewed. Twenty-five studies were included for this review. The majority of the studies were surveys with a few quasiexperimental designs. The themes were similar to those found in the non-research literature: strengths, incentives, barriers, use of faculty champions/simulation coordinator, and faculty development. The validity and reliability differed by study. There are numerous incentives and barriers to the use of high-fidelity patient simulation by faculty. Several examples of faculty development programs have been described in the literature but little evaluation has taken place beyond the end of the program. The goal of the use of high-fidelity patient simulation is to enhance the student’s knowledge, skills, and critical thinking in the care of patients. It is essential that the faculty are competent to provide instruction with high-fidelity patient simulation and therefore, the efficacy of these developmental programs need closer attention.