Simulation in Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Simulation in Nursing - Essay Example Based on these approaches, they state that simulation should entail techniques used to represent direct replication of the original object for purposes of detailed learning of the same object; for instance, the exposure of some vital parts which cannot otherwise be seen or studied using the real phenomenon (Larew, sessions, Spunt, Foster, & Covington, 2005). As Jha, & Bates (2001) note, simulation technique has made it easy for medical practitioners to acquire adequate hands on skills in providing adequate medical care to all patients seeking services. It has helped in building all round experts capable of handling various complications in the medical field with minimum errors compared to those made in the past. Extreme complications for instance excess hemorrhaging in mothers giving birth, occasionally resulting into deaths have been arrested. Minimizing perinatal hemorrhaging is the main agenda behind the introduction of simulation in medical education since it is the major source of death in delivering mothers (Adams, 1999; Alspach, 1995). This paper investigates the importance of simulations in obstetrics education aimed at minimizing prenatal hemorrhage, as well as analyzes the impacts of simulation and its benefits in obstetrics education. Introduction Excess hemorrhaging can cause death of mothers if not stopped soon after birth. Much blood is even lost in cases of caesarean deliveries where a c- section has to be cut as compared to cases of normal birth (Benner, 1984; Adams, 1999; Kahol K., 2009). There is, therefore, a great need for delivering mothers to be prevented from loosing a lot of blood during and after birth. It is estimated that about 140,000 deaths occur annually with 1 woman losing life every four minutes due to OB hemorrhage (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 1998). Between 1995-1999 maternal mortality due to OB hemorrhage in the United States of America was 14%, leading to the second cause of death in the region, cardiomyopath y 21% (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2002). The majority of these deaths is however reported to be 93% preventable if care providers had been more vigilant, recognized the risk and symptom to intervene early (Benner, 1984; Seymour et al, 2002). This is actually in line with the WHO report in 2007 on OB hemorrhage which indicates that OB hemorrhage is one of the most preventable causes of maternal mortality. Driven by the dire need for immediate attention and response to such vital conditions, most institutions have resorted to using simulation techniques to train nurses and gynecologists in the field of obstetrics. Benner, Hooper-Kyriakidis, & Stannard (1999) point out that simulation education is currently becoming the most preferred mode of education and training in most institutions offering training for nurses and gynecologists. Different kinds of simulators have been identified for use by various institutions and training organizations. As a result, the chances o f survival among mothers giving birth have been increased over the last few years (Adams, 1999; Case, 1995).