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Jenny interviews Prof Jane Frost about the BLISs room at WSU
15 Plays2 days ago
The BLISS suite (Gener8): Blended Learning Interactive Simulation Spaces, at Western Sydney University is an immersive, interactive healthcare education simulator that supports a range of disciplines and scenarios, and Professor Jane Frost discusses its hands-on, decision-making focus.
To know more go to - https://simovation.com.au/
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Bliss Suite
00:00:42
Jenny
Hi, I'm Jenny Bassett.
00:00:44
Melanie Barlow
And I'm Jane Frost.
00:00:45
Jenny
And Jane Frost. And I'm here today to have a chat with Jane about a blended learning interactive simulation suite, otherwise known as the Bliss Suite. So Jane, I think the name's just beautiful, but can you give us some insight to what is a blended learning interactive simulation suite?
Features of Bliss Suite's Interactive Walls
00:01:05
Melanie Barlow
Yeah, I love talking about the Bliss Suite. We have the first one in Australia and the the suite is, as it suggests, blended learning. So it think of a 360 degree room or space, but the walls are interactive. So you can press on the walls and make things happen. So it's like having a 360 touchscreen that you can immerse people into and really create those immersive simulations.
00:01:39
Jenny
So for learners in there and they want to use a piece of equipment, can they touch the screen or the wall and the equipment works or can you explain that a bit more or does it change scenes?
00:02:22
Melanie Barlow
And you can then draw on that so that you can say which part of the x-ray you're concerned about.
00:02:23
Jenny
Thank you.
00:02:30
Melanie Barlow
Similarly, you can do that with an ECG so you can draw on the walls as well. It's like having your own, because it's an interactive wall, you can circle things as you would do on like an iPad or something like that.
00:02:44
Melanie Barlow
However, it's because you can have people in the room, it makes it more interactive for that for learners because you can say, okay, so would you like to tell me whereabouts on this ECG you you're concerned about?
00:02:56
Jenny
Thanks.
00:02:57
Melanie Barlow
And then you can actually pull up the... a 360 or a 3D model of the heart and you can rotate it in the room so you can actually see where it sits and what that would look like. So it does depend. It's very versatile. It depends on what you're trying to achieve in the simulation. But you can go through anatomy and physiology, but align that with patient care, ECGs, all of those kind of things. and But you can also use it for an interactive background for a simulation. So you can put, you can do a multimodal simulation and have mannequins in the room with the background, making it more realistic.
00:03:47
Melanie Barlow
Would you like me to give you an example?
Conversion and Functionality of Bliss Room
00:03:49
Jenny
Yeah, they're trying to work how big is the room because, yes, if you can get a mannequin and a bed in there, it must be a fairly big room, is it?
00:03:57
Melanie Barlow
So our room was converted from a single sim space. so think of the rooms where you put your high-fidelity mannequin and you have the viewing station. We converted one of those into our bliss room. So it's reasonable-sized room, but you could probably only get about five rooms or six students in there to do so to do an activity. You can get more in otherwise, but if you're wanting them to engage with the walls and and actually do a simulation, then you're probably looking at, you know, four or five students in there to actually do
00:04:50
Melanie Barlow
And you'll like this, Jenny, because we use Masked as well. So we had Masked character in the room
00:04:54
Jenny
Great.
00:04:59
Melanie Barlow
and the walls showed that the character had had a fall by the side of the road. So the walls showed the the traffic rushing past. It was just as if they'd fallen by the side of the road.
00:05:14
Melanie Barlow
The paramedic students had to come in and look after person. the the person And then we were able to progress it so that the next time the room became at the back of an ambulance and you were able to what you needed to do in the back of the ambulance and there was interactive, so you could press on the wall to get the the vital signs would come up and you could press on for the equipment that you would need and that they would be available.
00:05:30
Jenny
Yeah.
00:05:47
Melanie Barlow
You then opened the back of the ambulance, which was another hotspot, which took us to another sequence. and And that was taking the patient into the hospital and handing over the patient to the nursing staff. So when we moved to that, we were able to have display on the wall there, handover.
00:06:08
Melanie Barlow
so they use a different acronym. It's not ISPAR. It's I missed, I believe. And we could
00:06:15
Melanie Barlow
We could have that so that if they wanted to, they could click on the wall, see that come up, and then they were reminded on how to articulate that handover.
00:06:49
Melanie Barlow
And it was interactive so you could really get those things like the ECG were were available there to go, okay, so you've done an ECG, here it is, let's have a look at it.
00:06:58
Jenny
Yes.
00:06:59
Melanie Barlow
What do we think is happening? So it gave that... that sequence that made it more realistic. It wasn't just like saying to them, okay, so pretend you're in the back of an ambulance now. It was the visuals were all there. We were able to make that happen. And we were able to have things that they would that what they would need in the room available for for students.
00:07:24
Jenny
Wow, how exciting. That sounds fantastic. Very immersive.
00:07:30
Melanie Barlow
It was. it was really It was really good to see that sequence and and to have that interactivity. I think we've started to play with other, shouldn't say play, should I, but you know what I mean.
00:07:45
Melanie Barlow
and We've started to look at, yes, it is to play, with other ways of creating content.
00:07:46
Jenny
playing Yeah, it is a plane, yes.
Gamification and Simulation Enhancements
00:07:52
Melanie Barlow
So one of the other things that I've done in the Bliss Room is create an escape room So you can actually click on the wall and answer questions as well as it's timed.
00:07:59
Jenny
Oh yeah. Let's see.
00:08:26
Melanie Barlow
So we did that around burns management and they were able to learn about burns while they were doing this interactive activity and then they answered a few questions to make sure they've got the key points and they were displayed all around the room so it was more of a team involved in answering the questions and everybody got into the spirit of
00:08:42
Jenny
Yes.
00:08:51
Melanie Barlow
can we can we do this better than our colleagues and things like that. So really interactive.
00:08:56
Jenny
Which made it fun and learning should be fun.
00:08:58
Melanie Barlow
Yes.
00:08:59
Jenny
Yeah, yeah. So let's, i i love the example that you've given us, Jane, and I want to know a bit more about it. So there was a pre-brief for the students and they'd done a bit of learning about those topics and then they came into the simulation room and then they did the simulation and then is there a debrief on the other end of it?
00:09:17
Jenny
Can you give us a bit, like, was this a one-hour session or a
Student Processes: Pre-brief and Debrief
00:09:20
Jenny
two-hour session? Can you give us a bit more information around that example? Yeah.
00:09:26
Melanie Barlow
Of course. So you you mean the example with the paramedic students, that one, or the escape room?
00:09:30
Jenny
Yes. Yeah.
00:09:32
Melanie Barlow
Yeah. Okay, so with the paramedic students, there was a pre-brief.
00:09:33
Jenny
Yeah.
00:09:37
Melanie Barlow
So it was, this is we want you to care for this patient and then you're going to hand over. So we really talked through how to use the room because if you're not aware of how interactive the walls are, you can miss that out.
00:09:52
Melanie Barlow
So you have to, with any new technology, familiarise people to the functionality of of how things can work and and what is possible. Otherwise, they would miss things like the vital signs because they didn't know that they could press a wall.
00:10:01
Jenny
Yes, right.
00:10:07
Melanie Barlow
So there is a pre-brief around the scenario, but there's also that familiarisation of the technology and then, yes, a a debrief afterwards about how that went, how the how they went from the point of view of their single disciplines but also then an interprofessional debrief so that we could really learn with, from and to each other.
00:10:16
Jenny
thank
00:10:35
Melanie Barlow
that right? Those are the words, aren't they?
00:10:37
Jenny
Yeah, yeah, nice.
00:10:38
Melanie Barlow
Yeah.
00:10:38
Jenny
Yeah, yeah. So, sorry, I'm going off all, I know we had some pre-prepared questions, but I'm so excited about the Bliss Room. I wanted to know how many people does it take to, how many staffs, have you got academic in the room?
00:10:52
Jenny
Who else, what other staffing have you got to run the Bliss Room?
Operational Support in Bliss Room
00:10:57
Melanie Barlow
So we have invested in having a technician who can help us with with the running of the room.
00:11:06
Melanie Barlow
Previously, it was the academics that were invested in and the academics and researchers who wanted to use the room.
00:11:11
Jenny
Thank you.
00:11:15
Melanie Barlow
that were involved in setting it up and being able to create the scenarios. So I guess I should mention that the the way that we got the the room is through research infrastructure and a grant that was more than just about teaching and learning.
00:11:33
Melanie Barlow
It was about learning using technology for change. So we have a project called the Western Change Lab and the Bliss was just a part of that bigger umbrella of of research. So we are using it for research as well as looking at teaching and learning reader research now to see how it is received.
00:12:00
Jenny
And so there's some published papers, Jane, that the listeners can go and find.
00:12:00
Melanie Barlow
in that space.
00:12:05
Melanie Barlow
Not yet. We've only had the room for almost a year. So it takes a little bit longer than that to publish, I'm afraid. But
00:12:14
Jenny
It does. us
00:12:16
Melanie Barlow
yeah, we needed to create that. But there is certainly work being developed and it will come out very shortly.
00:12:24
Jenny
Great. All right. Well, if you can let us know, we'll probably put that up on the Sim Happy Hour website for listeners once that's available. But, yeah, can't wait to read, you know, the students' experience and technology because I think that's something that academics are working with on a day-to-day basis now around not only with simulation but with, you know, AI and all that stuff.
00:12:48
Jenny
So interesting. i was It's interesting that you've got a dedicated person to to run that room. So fantastic. Well, i think i think it's...
00:12:58
Melanie Barlow
So I guess the other thing that I should, sorry, I was just going to mention that the other good thing about the Bliss Room, I think, is the that we now have another couple of sites that are that have got Bliss Rooms, but also there are are people who have Bliss Rooms in the yeah UK who are partnering with us to do some research so that there is this uh sort of network of bliss rooms who are keen to share what they have developed and to connect and i think that's what's really fabulous about simulation is that the people that you meet and those connections that you make and then you go hey i've got this idea and they go well we've got one of those rooms as well so why don't we partner so think those kind of things are are what's really nice about
00:13:47
Melanie Barlow
the simulation community as a whole.
00:13:52
Jenny
Nice. Well, I think you've answered probably the next two questions. The next one I really wanted to ask was how does the interactive 360 degree environment help students apply theory to practice? I think you've given us an example, but Can you give us a bit more information around that theory to practice transition?
00:14:17
Melanie Barlow
Yeah, so it's not... So the room that we have is actually 270 rather than 360 because we do have a... As I mentioned before, it was in the single SIM room, so we do have that control room so that people can...
00:14:33
Jenny
Yep.
00:14:34
Melanie Barlow
that So that side is not... It doesn't have the interactivity and it does not have things displayed. But... and Because it has that wraparound feel of it, it really immerses you into the environment and gives you more of a realistic feel.
00:14:55
Melanie Barlow
So i think sometimes we try and create scenarios where people We all have CPUs or clinical practice units, labs, whatever your institution calls them. And most of those are hospital-based.
00:15:14
Melanie Barlow
If you want to create a scenario with a in it with a primary care or a in a patient's home, it's it's harder to do that in a six-bedded ward that's been set up to do clinical skills.
00:15:15
Jenny
Yes.
00:15:29
Melanie Barlow
What this gives you is the ability to be able to change that theme that goes around and to be able to give...
00:15:39
Jenny
Yeah.
00:15:40
Melanie Barlow
people, clues about how pet patients, so about patient stories and patients' lives rather than taking them out of their own environment, putting them into a hospital, which, you know, a lot of our nurses will go lot of our students will become nurses in a hospital, but it is important that they remember or that they show an interest in patients as a whole. So I think,
00:16:10
Melanie Barlow
being able to have those different scenarios and really think about what might be going on for that that patient and think about why you're asking some of the questions.
00:16:20
Melanie Barlow
So, you know, is...
00:16:23
Jenny
Yeah, as a primary health care nurse, I was going, oh, this would be great because i look after a lot of my patients in a primary health care setting. And the other setting which I think is big in health care is mental health care. And so that's not always in the acute care setting. So I can see, you know, the beauty of the application in being able to easily change the environment without having to do a whole heap of moving of of furniture and investment in room after room after room to create a level of immersion for students. So, sounds exciting.
00:16:59
Jenny
with
Facilitators' Role in Deepening Understanding
00:17:00
Jenny
with it
00:17:00
Melanie Barlow
So I think with the learning that there's that there's more more to just the environment, though, because you can then make it.
00:17:00
Jenny
Sorry.
00:17:08
Melanie Barlow
So if you're in that scenario and and you can see that there's some confusion about the anatomy and physiology or the pathophysiology of the disease, you can actually bring that up and then explain that too. So it has that ability to sort of really...
00:17:25
Melanie Barlow
allow the facilitator to draw on lots of different applications and really build that into a scenario so that you can understand, you know, what AF looks like in the heart while you're caring for somebody who has AF. So you could actually get that up on one screen or and really explore what's going on and why the drug would work and things like that.
00:17:52
Jenny
So it really does support the student's cognition, doesn't it?
00:17:56
Melanie Barlow
Yeah, and it allows them to make those connections and really understand how the body is working because you can pull up a picture of and and you can basically dissect the heart on the on the screen so that you can go, this is what's happening here.
00:18:11
Jenny
On the screen, yeah.
00:18:15
Melanie Barlow
This is the bit that's compromised. So how would we go forward?
00:18:22
Jenny
Yes, yes, yes. So I suppose that leads me into the next question. So how does the Bliss Suite support decision-making, teamwork and confidence before students enter the real clinical environment? Has that been part of your research? Are you able to share that with us before publication or do we will we wait for the publication? Yes.
00:18:46
Melanie Barlow
Well, look, there's there's a lot of elements there, Jenny. i can i can perhaps talk to some of my observations so far, but because teamwork is clear from like the escape rooms, the escape rooms that we have joined, you can see that people need to work as a team and really pull together to go, okay, is this the right answer? where you know How am I going to do that?
00:19:11
Melanie Barlow
So I think it can foster that that teamwork. I think having any added realism helps with their confidence in going into clinical practice and preparing them for a real scenario. if you can make it as true to life as possible. So when we first got the room, we had a lot of images from the UK, which which work, but perhaps don't necessarily represent Australian healthcare. care So what we've actually been able to do is get a videographer to go out and video some actual healthcare spaces in local health districts that they can, so we can now have that so that it actually looks like the hospital that they're going to go into and you can see what's going, what's what's happening.
00:20:02
Melanie Barlow
So I think from that preparedness, I think it has a lot to offer. one of the things that we have been thinking about is you know you could even have people who are worried about going into hospital to come in and actually show them what it's like in a hospital from and and sort of try and help with those fears. People who have anxiety about
00:20:29
Melanie Barlow
what's going to going to happen, all of those things could actually be shown in the in the bliss room. So sort of work that we're thinking could be done in those spaces is not only for teaching and learning, but is really to help people who have, you know, don't understand what it's going to be like in an environment.
00:20:41
Jenny
Thank you.
00:20:54
Jenny
Yeah, that's a great application for so for the facility.
Technical Requirements for Bliss Room
00:20:57
Jenny
So is it has it got like large data banks, Jane, because you're talking about people going out and doing videos and things. So has has have you had to increase the the data or or the storage of data or does that come in the unit?
00:21:13
Melanie Barlow
So it come you have you do need a server for it, but that comes with the with the setup of the room.
00:21:19
Jenny
Yeah.
00:21:21
Jenny
Yeah, no. Oh, yeah, just sorry. I know that wasn't a question we'd thought about, but i was like going, oh, I've come up with all these extra questions for you. Sorry. Okay.
00:21:33
Jenny
So i think we're...
00:21:33
Melanie Barlow
Ask me anything, Jenny.
00:21:35
Jenny
Well, it's just us having a chat. in So... yeah What other the ways do you think that the Bliss Room allows students to engage with simulated patients and clinical data in real time? Have you got some other applications that you can share with the listeners in the way you've been using the Bliss Room?
00:21:57
Melanie Barlow
Well, I guess the example that I gave when you're transitioning somebody through different difference parts of the healthcare system really allows students to see that and work with simulated patients in that area. know simulated patients and MUSCAD are different. We don't have any simulated patients, so I'm going to...
00:22:22
Melanie Barlow
So Masked is my my only way to answer that question. But we so I think that.
00:22:34
Melanie Barlow
Transition through helps the students and I've kind of forgotten what your question was now, Jenny. So you want to ask it again?
00:22:40
Jenny
That's all right. No, no. Well, it was around how does the Bliss Room allow students to engage in the clinical data in real time? I think if i think you've sort of, think, if you know, when they're touching the wall and they can actually open something up, to me, that's a game changer.
00:23:02
Melanie Barlow
Yes, yes.
00:23:03
Jenny
yes.
00:23:12
Melanie Barlow
So you program them in there. You can have... You can have the ECG. You could have an ECG machine if you wanted to, or you could just have the result that would pop up it when you when you needed it to. So i think its limitation is only what you think of to be able to put in there. It's about...
00:23:35
Melanie Barlow
sort of thinking about what might be useful and programming it in there. But there is the flexibility within the system just to be able to hop out and go to the internet and open up a page that has the relevant information.
00:23:51
Jenny
Yeah.
00:23:52
Melanie Barlow
And it comes with a library of the pathophysiology and some anatomy and physiology that you can use that's already there.
00:24:19
Melanie Barlow
the the waves actually displayed in the the different parts of the QRS complex in the heart and be able to have that up on the screen and and for it to be animated and you could see what was happening. So resources like that are are really good for that connection.
Augmenting Simulations with Realistic Elements
00:24:42
Jenny
So how important do you think that this simulation technology like the Bliss Room is in preparing students to for you complex healthcare situations.
00:24:58
Melanie Barlow
Look, I think it's a game changer for complex situations because you can add in noise, other things that are distractors around a scenario and you can make that background realistic so that you're taking a mannequin and a mannequin simulation that might be great And I'm not saying that the bliss room will replace any other, but it's a great way to augment any simulation really to add that layer of realism. You perhaps don't need the high fidelity mannequin. You could use a lower fidelity mannequin in the room because you can add the other functionalities and the
00:25:46
Jenny
Hmm. Hmm.
00:25:49
Melanie Barlow
So yeah I really do think that it adds, takes it to another level, and really allows that complex situation to be dissected in a way so that you can look at different parts of the simulation, you can actually have a video of their relative You could bring it back to being about the person. So you could be doing, you know, an arrest or something. And you could then also have the relative in the, in a video of the relative in the waiting room that you have to then go and talk to or a phone call or something that really adds those elements
00:26:33
Melanie Barlow
of real life. that we aren't able to sort of simulate in other ways.
00:26:40
Jenny
Yes, yeah, yeah, i think's I think it's got some great opportunities. i'll be I'm interested to see what comes next in the Bliss Suite. And I suppose, Jane, probably our last question because you've answered a lot of the others that were here on our little list, but what impact do you hope that the Bliss Room will have on student learning and patient outcomes in the long term?
Impact on Graduates and Training Innovation
00:27:07
Melanie Barlow
Look, i hope that the Bliss Room will better prepare our graduates and really allow them not only to understand the the pathophysiology and make good clinical decisions, but also to recognise patients as people and to be able to bring in that patient-centeredness or the human aspect to care because I think this allows you to be able to add those elements that perhaps when you're focused on a skill or a way of of doing things that needs to happen, that we often forget or students often forget as they're prioritising, okay, which drug do I need to give next?
00:27:49
Jenny
you
00:28:03
Melanie Barlow
They're forgetting that there's there's that's a person. And to be able to bring that side of things in, I think that we're which our nurses will be better graduates and...
00:28:19
Melanie Barlow
I would like to be cared for by someone, and it's not that far off, Jenny, that when i need caring for or when I go into hospital, I'd like them to see me for me and not just my disease. And I think that's what the Bliss Room will be able to do.
00:28:37
Jenny
Yeah, nice. So without, I think I'm touching on, could be touching on your research here, but if you're able to, can you share with us what's been the feedback from students and your staff so far?
00:28:52
Melanie Barlow
So we've not had as many students through as we would have liked so far because it is a research space rather than totally dedicated for teaching and learning at this point.
00:29:18
Melanie Barlow
because that allows its scalability. And the feedback that we've had from those kind of interactions have been very positive.
00:29:21
Jenny
yes
00:29:27
Melanie Barlow
And as I've mentioned before, the escape room has been nothing but fun and interactive and they've really learnt things from being in that that environment, even when they didn't really realise there were learning elements.
00:29:44
Melanie Barlow
They've come out going, oh, right, yes, well, that was the rule of nines. Oh, yeah. And they understood it a bit better from being in those environments. So, yeah
00:29:54
Jenny
Now, are there any questions that I haven't asked? Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us about the bliss room? Because I think you've also answered the one about where you might see it evolving in the future. have You've talked about some interdisciplinary simulations. Are there any other applications you can see coming or on the drawing board that you're able to share with us at this point?
00:30:19
Melanie Barlow
Look, I think it's important that we don't train nurses in silos and that we do engage in that interprofessional education. So I think that's that's important. i do understand and certainly where I work has a huge undergraduate cohort.
00:30:38
Melanie Barlow
So it is hard to do interprofessional education, but I think the Bliss Room lends us to innovative ways of being able to do that. And that's what i'd I'd like to be able to see that we can have everybody have access to this type of technology to really help with that learning and to engage the learners and the students that we have.
00:30:51
Jenny
Yeah
00:31:06
Jenny
Yeah, nice. Well, thanks for the chat today, Jane. Now, you don't get out of our chat without it for this week. If you could be anywhere in the world having a drink, where would you be and what would your drink be this week?
00:31:22
Melanie Barlow
Now, do you know what, Jenny? I'd forgotten all about this question, so I hadn't read pre-prepared it. But I think I would like to be in Italy.
00:31:34
Jenny
Yes.
00:31:38
Melanie Barlow
Having an Aperol spritz, I think, would be.
00:31:41
Jenny
Nice. Lovely.
00:31:42
Melanie Barlow
Yes.
00:31:45
Jenny
Well, thanks for our chat today, Jane. I've really enjoyed that. And thanks for giving us some insight around how your university has been using the Bliss Suite and what's coming next. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the research. So thanks for the chat today.
00:32:01
Melanie Barlow
Thanks, Jenny.