And the coloured sash goes to…

One of the difficulties with educating large groups of undergraduate students in the simulation space is knowing who is undertaking what role. This confusion is compounded when some of the group/class observes the video feed from an overflow room. Since enrolments in our simulation topics range from 60 (midwifery) to over 700 (nursing) students, we needed an innovative and cheap solution that suited a range of physical body sizes and could be easily cleaned to promote infection control. We then introduced coloured sashes for different roles in our nursing and midwifery simulation suite area. Nursing uses a stop light red, yellow and green-coloured sashes to signify the primary, treatment and documentation nursing roles. Midwifery uses a funky polka dot sash for the RM, lilac for midwifery student, and a blue sash for the RM TL role. The use of sashes allowed for observer students and staff to clearly see the initial roles that people were playing and if role migration occurred. Students watching in the over flow room all commented on how much easier it was to clearly identify the various roles of their fellow group members. Initially over the shoulder sashes trialled, however during a nursing CPR scenario these became disruptive as they were one size fits all. Therefore, a smaller armband tie was introduced for the nursing scenarios. It was very interesting to see HOW the students wore their colours during their various sessions. We calculated that there were in fact seven different ways to wear a 60 cm coloured piece of material! Regardless of how these sashes were worn, the coloured sashes were clearly visible when viewing videos of the scenarios during debrief and post the event. By using these coloured sashes, the students were more able to debrief and discuss issues such as role migration, communication and delegation. This presentation will show video and photo examples of using the coloured sashes, as well as explore student and staff feedback.