• Kevin J Biese, Donna Moro-Sutherland, Robert D Furberg, Brian Downing, Larry Glickman, Alison Murphy, Cheryl L Jackson, Graham Snyder, and Cherri Hobgood.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. kbiese@med.unc.edu
• Acad Emerg Med. 2009 Dec 1;16 Suppl 2:S71-5.

ObjectivesTo assess the ability of a screen-based simulation-training program to improve emergency medicine and pediatric resident performance in critical pediatric resuscitation knowledge, confidence, and skills.MethodsA pre-post, interventional design was used. Three measures of performance were created and assessed before and after intervention: a written pre-course knowledge examination, a self-efficacy confidence score, and a skills-based high-fidelity simulation code scenario. For the high-fidelity skills assessment, independent physician raters recorded and reviewed subject performance. The intervention consisted of eight screen-based pediatric resuscitation scenarios that subjects had 4 weeks to complete. Upon completion of the scenarios, all three measures were repeated. For the confidence assessment, summary pre- and post-test summary confidence scores were compared using a t-test, and for the skills assessment, pre-scores were compared with post-test measures for each individual using McNemar's chi-square test for paired samples.ResultsTwenty-six of 35 (71.3%) enrolled subjects completed the institutional review board-approved study. Increases were observed in written test scores, confidence, and some critical interventions in high-fidelity simulation. The mean improvement in cumulative confidence scores for all residents was 10.1 (SD +/-4.9; range 0-19; p < 0.001), with no resident feeling less confident after the intervention. Although overall performance in simulated codes did not change significantly, with average scores of 6.65 (+/-1.76) to 7.04 (+/-1.37) out of 9 possible points (p = 0.58), improvement was seen in the administering of appropriate amounts of IV fluids (59-89%, p = 0.03).ConclusionsIn this study, improvements in resident knowledge, confidence, and performance of certain skills in simulated pediatric cardiac arrest scenarios suggest that screen-based simulations may be an effective way to enhance resuscitation skills of pediatric providers. These results should be confirmed using a randomized design with an appropriate control group.(c) 2009 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

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