Simulation-Based Education in Critical Care

Authors

• Catherine J. Wooton, University of LynchburgFollow

Specialty

Critical Care Medicine

Advisor

Dr. Tom Colletti

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to explain how simulation-based education strengthens clinical competency, enhances interdisciplinary teamwork and communication, decreases medical errors, and helps close critical gaps in healthcare education, particularly within critical care. Simulation-based education is an essential component of critical care training, using modalities such as low- and high-fidelity manikins, virtual reality, and in-situ simulation. These training techniques provide structured practice for high-risk, low-frequency events and procedures central to critical care, and their effectiveness can be assessed by changes in clinical competency, interprofessional collaboration, and patient safety. A comprehensive PubMed search of electronic journals, using targeted filters, identified studies evaluating simulation’s effects on clinical readiness, interprofessional collaboration, medical error reduction, and patient safety. Evidence demonstrates that simulation improves technical skills, clinical reasoning, communication, and crisis resource management across all levels of experience. Team-based simulation enhances leadership, coordination, and the development of shared mental models, contributing to improved interdisciplinary performance and reduced medical errors. Debriefing further strengthens learning by promoting reflection, identifying system vulnerabilities, and reinforcing evidence-based practices that enhance patient safety. Despite its benefits, implementation of simulation- based education is challenged by financial costs, faculty training requirements, logistical constraints in real-world clinical settings, and concerns about long-term skill retention across diverse programs and institutions. Strategies such as ongoing competency refreshers, faculty development, and academic-clinical partnerships may help mitigate these barriers. Additional research on skill retention, the optimal frequency of refresher sessions, and cost-reduction strategies is needed. Specifically, identifying when simulation-acquired skills begin to decline can determine evidence-based timing for refreshers. Establishing this decay timeline supports a refresh schedule that maintains competency and performance consistency while avoiding unnecessary retraining and optimizing time and costs. Exploring ways to offset high program-development costs, through interdisciplinary sharing and clinical partnerships, would improve financial feasibility.

Recommended Citation

Wooton CJ. Simulation-Based Education in Critical Care. University of Lynchburg DMSc Doctoral Project Assignment Repository. 2026; 8(1).