Do you have a pro tip or reflection about debriefing? We’ve assembled this page to share debriefing pearls with the community!
We hope you’ve enjoyed the Simulcast Self Development Module on PEARLS debriefing but maybe you’ve just come here from twitter or other social media to share your wisdom.
When we are developing a new skill, most of us can recall a time that a handy tip from a colleague or peer gave us a nudge in the right direction, a new phrase to adopt, or a tried and tested way *not* to do things!
Interestingly these tips often come from those practicing at or near our level, rather than someone that we might class as an “expert in the field”. Peer education is recognised as a valuable methodology for engaging learners and transferring skills. You don’t need to be an expert to give great advice! Our simulcast community has learners from all stages of their education journey, providing us with a unique and exciting opportunity to share our tips and experiences for the evolution of our international peers.
We invite you to share something that you think might help another debriefer. This could be something extremely simple, or something that you found practice-changing. It could be a phrase you like to use, a debriefing topic or tool you rely on when things get overwhelming, something that was passed on to you that you remember finding useful – the door is wide open! We would love to hear your thoughts and experiences so we can share and learn together.
Don’t get disheartened if someone’s pearl of wisdom doesn’t resonate with you – we acknowledge that debriefing comes in many forms and styles, and what suits one facilitator may not flow well for another. Sometimes trying something outside of our comfort zone can further develop our practice, and sometimes it shows us that a certain approach just doesn’t work for us, and that’s ok too.
Either way, we’d love to hear any debriefing pearls for you in the comments below!
17 thoughts on “Share your debriefing pearls!”
Name that dynamic
– if there is something you are sensing/feeling just call it out loud
– I have seen this so beautifully change the discussion by just being explicit about what’s going on in the room
– useful for the debrief going well and the challenging one
– useful to name dynamics between participants-faculty and faculty-faculty
In the application phase I try to targetedly bring out learning and commitment to change Eg If you had to choose one SINGLE piece of learning from this experience and reflection, what would that learning be and how and when do you plan to put it in action in the clinical setting
Preview where you want the convo to go
– provides structure (like a shared mental model) of where the debrief is heading
– allows a really simple open question to open up a new area of analysis
Learn how to use silence effectively. A well placed silence, not rushing to drive the debrief the way you want unveils incredible pearls during debrief.
Adding being a good listener to the above is the “magic combo” for me. Listen intently, and make it obvious (non-verbal cues, body posture, paraphrasing….) empower our delegates to continue talking, which makes for a great debrief.
Best tip: keep learning objectives in mind always and make it clear through all the process.
It’s very easy to get overloaded sometimes as a debriefer, some of my top tips include:
1. Relationship trumps content.
2. If you have a good rapport, you’ll be forgiven for clumsy questions.
3. Go to curiosity. If you already know the answer, why are you asking the question?
4. Make the implicit, explicit (with thanks to Ben Symons)
5. Silence and body language speak loudest
Thanks Nathan! Although I didn’t invent “make the implicit, explicit”, I’m not sure who did though!
Your job is not to be nice to people. Your job is to give people a learning experience that makes them better than they were when they walked in. By using your facilitation skills they will feel good, and want to come back time and time again. There’s no such thing as ‘a natural debriefer’, it’s a set of learned skills.
Trust the adult learner. Use the feelings phase as a learning needs analysis and talk about what is said in there. Lots of listening and not much talking as a debriefer. You are there to guide the conversation only, leave your agenda at the door. Trust that the learning will be ongoing post debrief unique to each learner.
-Relax, its not about you!
-We all have our own style that works, don’t necessarily strive to minic another person’s.
– Genuine curiosity goes so far
– Hand gestures and body language speak volumes
– Pre-brief with your co-debriefer prior to starting the simulation (a checklist helps)
– Be authentic and kind
– Lastly, do not be afraid to name the dynamic!
I use a lot of role play in my SIMS. Nurse as Nurse, patient and observer. One of the scenarios I wrote is on improving communication and including the pt in planning their care. I do two versions of the same scenario… Nurse Nice, Nurse Nasty…. And use pause and reflect to jot down their thoughts after the first scenario and again after the second.
E.g. I felt ………. Because…………
We get some really interesting feedback and points of view, even I can still be surprised by what emotions are felt. The debriefs are always robust and insightful with every participant getting involved.
It’s been a while since I chimed in here – thank you, Ben, for developing this forum that invites educators to share their thoughts. So many words of wisdom here, and I love that your use of inviting hand gestures has been included.
I am currently heavily into dissertation writing, so my initial thought was of course – creating psychological safety 😉 However, I think that if I am sharing my favorite PEARLS – it would come down to three old favorites:
1. Be authentic – while it contributes to psychological safety – it is also a way to build trust/relationships that are part of meaningful learning. To me, this means acknowledging your fallibility, knowing that you don’t have to ask the “perfect” question, and being mindful of your own bias/emotions as you are going through the debriefing process. People will sense when you are being true to yourself and to them.
2. Naming the dynamic – forever grateful to Laura Rock for coaching me through “name-it-to-tame-it”, and how to use that tool to facilitate challenging situations.
3. Finally, have to go with #WTF2WTF. Being curious – as modeled by Jenny Rudolph and colleagues – is a powerful tool. My changing the sacred to the profane motto shaped my perspective on being curious about what is going on for the learner – and reminds me not to climb so far up the ladder of assumption before I try to understand their perspective.
Time available for debrief sometimes dictates how you debrief and what concepts you want to explore. For example when We ran an in situ simulation recently we had 10min and decided to focus mainly on exploring with team the rhythm checks as we noticed significant issues with team performance in this area. Using phrases like “I noticed”, hard facts like time to defib and time taken for rhythm check was really useful for the team and referring to guidelines really useful in these situations.
Try with all your might to hold onto that “Unqualified Positive regard”, it always wants to squirm away from em at least
Always be prepared to Zig when you want to zag. Plant your feet, but always be prepared to be wrong.
Emotions are always in the debriefing room…..
try to capture, validate and work positively with participants emotions.
The time will not be a barrier to be aware of participants feeling during the debriefing.
So many gems from Walter Eppich! I’m thinking about the idea of reflection as a learned skill and habit, and that we need to allow learners to take responsibility for what they get out of the debrief as part of nurturing those skills.
Previewing that everyone will be asked for an initial reaction as a low stakes engagement – so any opportunity to participate on more difficult topics will not be overwhelming.