10 Prebriefing
The term prebriefing arises from the combination of two other terms that help to understand its nature (McDermott et al., 2021):
The VGS “Hello, you must be Flo!” is already prepared with an integrated online self-prebriefing that contains written information that can autonomously be completed by the students. This written self-prebriefing is structured in the following parts:
⮚ Welcome: The VGS “Hello, you must be Flo!” is presented.
⮚ Learning outcomes: Explanation of the learning goals that this VGS aims to achieve, and the previous knowledge needed.
⮚ Online simulation environment: Detailed description of the VGS, how to play it and some tips. Also, in this section an explanation of the debriefing is included.
⮚ Ground rules: Explanation of:
- The fiction contract that the students must respect during the game play, taking the VGS as if it was a real situation.
- The confidentiality compromise which can be summarized in the sentence: “What happen in the simulation, stays in the simulation”.
- The safety commitment that allows the students to freely act during the simulation without fearing the consequences of their actions.
⮚ Technical requirements: Recommendations for experiencing the VGS without technological problems.
⮚ Case report: Detailed description of the case, with information that will be important in the development of the situation. This information can be downloaded by the students.
In addition to the previously described prebriefing integrated in the VGS “Hello, you must be Flo!”, there are also other modalities in which the prebriefing can be conducted, which include but are not limited to:
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In case using any of these or other modalities of prebriefing, different pieces of advice are provided bellow (facilitator advice) that might help the facilitator to conduct it successfully.
Some elements that Zigmont (2011a) and Verkuyl (2022) consider important for the prebriefing session and that facilitators must make sure that they are included when deciding to adapt the prebriefing session are:
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Explain the learning objectives of the VGS to the students
- Clarify expectations and roles of the facilitator and learners during the simulation.
- Include preparatory activities that help learners to go through the main contents of the simulation and activate their previous knowledge.
- Tell the approximate duration of the session.
- Guide students in the use of the VGS: Technology and content.
- Explain to students the purpose of the activity. If implemented in a formative way, tell them that they do not have to worry about making mistakes, as it is intended to learn. In case this VGS wants to be implemented in a summative way, explain the evaluation criteria that will be followed for the assessments of the students’ learning.
- Advise the students if they will be graded based on their performance in the simulation or not.
- Explain the format and purpose of the debriefing and, also, the expectations about the role of the students in this session.
- Ask for minimization of interruptions during the simulation.
- Provide learners with a confidentiality contract, and a fiction contract, so that their psychological safety increases by guaranteeing that students actions and opinions will be confidential, and by acting in the virtual scenario as if it was a real situation.
Also, facilitators should guide students to explore relevant contents to this simulation prior to starting the VGS such as:
More information about prebriefing
Prebriefing is an orientation session to prepare learners for the experience with the simulation (Verkuyl et al., 2022). Its goal is to introduce and set the basis needed for the experience with the simulation, outlining the rules that the users must follow, presenting the case, commenting the learning objectives and the expectations, activating previous knowledge, etc. This will make, in the first place, that learners are more comfortable with the learning en
vironment and start to think about it as a safe place to enhance their competencies. In the second place, it will also prepare students for the experience and enable them to make the most out of the simulation in terms of acquisition, comprehension, and maintenance of the knowledge. In order to make sure that the students are comfortable with the learning environment, and in case it is implemented as a training activity, it is also important to make clear that they will not be assessed and that their performance will not be judged (Zigmont et al., 2011a). To achieve this comfort, it is also important that the facilitators use verbal appreciation, validation, and consistency, for instance, by calling the students by their names, sharing personal experiences and fails, being open to questions, etc. This behaviour will make students feel acknowledged and psychologically safe during the session. (Verkuyl et al., 2022).
complementary resources
If still feeling insecure about how to conduct a prebriefing session, we highly recommend checking the following resources:
- INACSL Standards Committee, McDermott, D.S., Ludlow, J., Horsley, E. & Meakim, C. (2021). Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice TM Prebriefing: Preparation and Briefing. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 58, 9-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2021.08.008 .
- Chamberlain, J. (2015). Prebriefing in nursing simulation: A concept analysis using Rodger’s methodology. Clinical simulation in nursing, 11(7), 318-322. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ecns.2015.05.003
- McDermott, D. S. (2016). The prebriefing concept: A Delphi study of CHSE experts. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 12(6), 219-227 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2016.02.001.
