Research
Carolinas Simulation Center’s research team conducts both basic and applied research using a variety of techniques. Our team has access to a variety of clinical subspecialties and patient care settings. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we seek to advance our understanding of how key skills in healthcare professionals develop and our capacity to assess those skills accurately and consistently. Currently, our research focus is on evaluating and tracking the development of non-technical skills including higher order thinking, communication, and engagement.
Interested in initiating a research project involving simulation?
We would love to hear from you.
Please complete the Research Request Form to tell us more about what you’re interested in researching. The Research Team will review the completed form and reach out to schedule an initial meeting. If you have any questions, you can contact us at SimulationCenter@AdvocateHealth.org.
Research Initiatives Spotlight
Understanding Clinical Judgment Skills of Nursing Students During Simulation-Based Education
Carolinas Simulation Center, in collaboration with Carolinas College of Health Sciences is studying the development of nursing students’ clinical judgment skills over the course of their educational program from multiple perspectives. Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) scores are collected from student self-ratings of their scenario performance and trained raters provide LCJR scores after viewing video recordings. Self and observers’ ratings on the LCJR will be collected on over 500 learners. Key research questions include: how do learners CJS progress over the course of their program, how do self-reports and observer ratings align, what are the best ways to measure clinical judgment, and what learner characteristics are associated with skill development over time.?
Validation of the Engagement Scale for Simulation-Based Education (ESSBE)
Carolinas Simulation Center’s research team is currently validating a scale for measuring learner self-reported engagement during simulation education sessions. Efforts to validate the ESSBE began in 2022 and followed two frameworks outlined by Boateng et al., 2018 and Messick, 1989. It is our intention that the scale be generalizable to measure learner engagement in both virtual and in-person simulation environments across multiple types of healthcare professionals, including pre and post licensure learners. Results of this study may be used to inform improvements in program curriculum at CSC and ultimately at other simulation centers.
Exploring Family Medicine Residents’ Clinical Interviewing Skills (CIS) and Patient Communications
Family Medicine Faculty member Allison Bickett, PhD, MS recognized an opportunity to utilize Family Medicine residents’ Objective Structured Clinical Reviews (OSCRs) as a platform to explore potential barriers to effective physician-patient communication and engage in data-based continuous improvement efforts, and has partnered with CSC to design a research study around these goals. In this study, post-graduate years (PGY) 1 through 3 residents engage in four simulated patients encounters per year, each of which is followed by immediate self-assessment and SP assessment of residents’ clinical interviewing/communication skills. After the completion of the simulated patient interactions, residents and their faculty advisors both review video recordings of the encounters and assess clinical interviewing/communication skills once again. Finally, residents engage in a didactic session with faculty intended to build clinical interviewing/communication skills. Results examine differences between resident self-perceived skills before and after video review, differences among the three raters' perspectives, and identify areas of relative strength and opportunities for growth that can be used to inform ongoing training and feedback opportunities.
If you are interested in implementing this tool at your simulation center, please reach out to us at SimulationCenter@AdvocateHealth.org to learn more.
Upcoming Research Events
Our Simulation Brown Bag Series is an opportunity for others to learn about Simulation and Research, and a place for professionals across a variety of specialties to share ideas and network with one another.
Our next Simulation Brown Bag will be scheduled in 2026. If you are interested in attending a virtual event or have an idea for a topic, please indicate your interest by emailing Darla Morton at Darla.Morton@AdvocateHealth.org.