Prioritizing healthcare distance simulation educators’ technological competence: descriptive analysis of qualitative interviews

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the community spread of COVID-19 and the unavailability of clinical instructional sites led to heavy dependence on distance simulation to continue health professions education. The challenges faced by educators, combined with the lack of established parameters to prepare simulationists for distance simulation, prompted scholars to find a solution to fill this gap. In the absence of practical guidelines or parameters for healthcare educators to use emerging simulation technologies, this study explored the technological competencies of an ideal distance simulation educator at the basic and advanced level in light of the proposed Distance Simulation Educator Guidelines v3.0 (DSEG). This qualitative descriptive study used deductive content analysis of interviews with distance simulation experts using the DSEG as a codebook for deductive analysis. Nine experts with a diverse healthcare professions background and distance simulation experience were interviewed. The identified main categories included a dual set of competencies, technological and non-technological. The non-technological competencies included professional values and applied principles of simulation and learning. Eight generic categories (competencies of the DSEG) emerged for basic- and advanced-level educators. Although several key findings were expected, this descriptive analysis study prioritized the competencies of basic- and advanced-level distance simulation educators. It also provided insight into how the DSEG could be applied in the real world. Further research is recommended for these preliminary findings.