Prebriefing: What is it?
Prebriefing is an information or orientation session given by the educator to prepare learners for the virtual gaming simulations experience prior to enactment. The purpose of the prebriefing is to set the stage for a virtual gaming simulation by clarifying expectations and processes to assist participants in achieving learning objectives.
The Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best PracticeTM Prebriefing: Preparation and Briefing (INACSL Standards Committee, McDermott, et al., 2021) is a newly developed guide related to the standards of best practices for simulation prebriefing. This document provides a foundation for understanding the criteria related to prebriefing virtual gaming simulations. As noted in the previous chapter, prebriefing is different from Presimulation preparation. Preparation occurs one or more days in advance of the prebrief, and its purpose is to ensure learners have an understanding of the content that they will need to play a virtual gaming simulation.
By clarifying expectations and roles, the prebrief fosters psychological safety and ensures everyone receives the same instructions. It helps to ensure that the virtual gaming simulation will go smoothly and that everyone will get the most out of playing. When learners do not have a chance to prebrief, they report decreased confidence, increased anxiety, and feeling less prepared to play the virtual gaming simulations.
General Guidelines for Conducting a Virtual Gaming Simulation Prebrief
- Include introductory activities that help to create an environment of integrity, trust, and respect in the prebrief.
- Clearly outline expectations for the learners and the educator.
- Orientate learners to the virtual gaming simulations so they understand the virtual environment, technology, process, equipment and technical limitations.
- Ensure the prebrief is learner-focused. The length of the prebrief will be determined by learner’s virtual gaming simulation and clinical experience, the content of the simulation and an educator’s facilitation skills. Avoid overwhelming the learner with too much information.
- Promote a sense of psychological safety in the prebrief. Use verbal appreciation, validation, and consistency to help learners feel invited, acknowledged, and safe when it is time for the debriefing. Encourage input by directing questions to certain learners. Clearly address learners by name to convey personal regard for individual learners. Role model fallibility and share personal experiences. Openly sharing past failures and lessons learned from those failures helps to flatten hierarchy and promote psychological safety.
- Consider the best prebrief format. The prebrief can be provided in advance, in person before the virtual gaming simulation or online via a web conferencing system such as Zoom, Blackboard or Teams. In addition, the prebrief can be recorded in video or audio format in advance of the virtual gaming simulation to standardize the process and content.
- Prebrief activities will vary depending on the way the virtual gaming simulation will be enacted. If facilitating the virtual simulation synchronously with learners, the educator will have to know how to access the technology and obtain technical support, however, the learners do not need that level of detail (Refer to Tables 4.1 and 4.2 for key elements in different strategies for prebriefing).
