Assistant Professor of Nursing Saginaw Valley State University Freeland, Michigan, United States
Abstract: Handling difficult conversations in healthcare, particularly death notifications, poses significant challenges forhealthcare professionals. Insufficient training, particularly during formative years, can leave practitionersunprepared for delivering bad news, negatively affecting both the grieving process for families and theemotional well-being of healthcare providers. This educational activity addresses the identified gap byoffering participants the opportunity to learn how to design and implement a high-fidelity, interprofessionaldeath notification simulation. The simulation emphasizes collaboration between healthcare disciplines anduses a shadowbox technique to critically engage learners in decision-making. A structured debriefingtemplate provides participants with the tools to guide learners in reflecting on their emotional andprofessional responses. By the end of this session, participants will be equipped to design simulations thatfoster competence, confidence, and emotional resilience in clinical practice.
Please include a short summary of your presentation that highlights why an attendee would want to view your poster.: This session offers educators a practical framework for designing and implementing an interprofessionaldeath notification simulation. Participants will learn how to design a high impact simulation that prepareslearners for one of the most challenging conversations in healthcare: delivering a death notification.
Learning Objectives:
Identify 2 key components of designing a death notification simulation that incorporates interprofessional collaboration.
Discuss 2 strategies to implement evidence-based simulation designs for an emotionally charged deathnotification scenario.
Explain the importance of structured debriefing in emotionally intense simulations.
