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The Use of Stress to Enrich the Simulated Environment

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The Comprehensive Textbook of Healthcare Simulation

Abstract

Simulation is an inherently stressful educational modality. However, this may not be a negative attribute of simulation-based education. Stress and memory are closely tied to one another with stress in many cases enhancing the memory and, therefore, improving learning. Cortisol is an important mediator in this process, peaking roughly 30 min after an initial stressor and priming the brain for learning that uses amygdalar pathways and is therefore relatively prone to extinction. Given this neurobiological basis of stress and its effects on learning, the stress experienced during simulation or deliberately added to a simulation scenario may improve subsequent learning. This seems especially likely considering the rise in cortisol generally coincides to the time frame for debriefing. Stress inoculation is also another benefit of stress in the simulated environment wherein participants experience stress during a simulated clinical scenario that closely mimics the actual scenario. In theory, they then become inoculated to this stress and are more able to cope with it if and when they experience similar stress in the clinical setting.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Samuel DeMaria Jr. MD

  2. Departments of Anesthesiology, Otolaryngology, and Structural and Chemical Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Adam I. Levine MD

Authors
  1. Samuel DeMaria Jr. MD
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  2. Adam I. Levine MD
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Correspondence to Samuel DeMaria Jr. MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Anesthesiology Otolaryngology, and Structural & Chemical Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Adam I. Levine MD

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Samuel DeMaria Jr. MD , Andrew D. Schwartz MD  & Alan J. Sim MD ,  & 

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DeMaria, S., Levine, A.I. (2013). The Use of Stress to Enrich the Simulated Environment. In: Levine, A.I., DeMaria, S., Schwartz, A.D., Sim, A.J. (eds) The Comprehensive Textbook of Healthcare Simulation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5993-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5993-4_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5993-4

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