"They did too well"

When observing a new faculty member it is not unusual to see a look of relief on his/her face when the participants in a scenario (finally) make a mistake. The faculty member may believe that if no mistakes are made then the facilitator will have nothing to talk about in the debrief. Below are a few tips on how to deal with the participants who "did too well".

Don't create a special crisis

Some may be tempted to throw a curveball into the scenario. "They're doing great, okay... Your patient has now arrested and he's also aspirated." Try and avoid this. Your scenario should be running to your learning objectives. Creating a special crisis in order to have something to talk about in the debrief, means they're going to be talking about the crisis and not your learning objectives.

It's not you, it's them

The introductory paragraph contains an obvious mistake: "the facilitator will have nothing to talk about in the debrief". The debrief is not an opportunity for the facilitator to talk. The debrief allows the facilitator to facilitate the discussion the group is having. This means that the faculty member should concentrate on how to make sure the learning objectives get discussed, not on whether the participants did or didn't do well.

Good scenarios are not designed to create mistakes

Good scenarios are designed to explore performance based on the learning objectives of your course, some will do well, others less well. All performance can be discussed. The words of Peter Dieckmann and Charlotte Ringsted are worth remembering:

"Learners' errors should not be seen as a personal victory in scenario design and implementation." (p.55 - Essential Simulation in Clinical Education (Forrest, McKimm and Edgar (eds)))

Be enthusiastic and explore

Although "advocacy and inquiry debriefing" may have its faults (see blogpost here), its appeal to the facilitator to display genuine curiosity is a valid point. When the participants "did too well", why did that happen? What was their communication, leadership, teamwork, etc. like? How can we ensure that the next group of participants will do just as well?

Final thoughts

The desire to see participants make mistakes is a phase in the evolution of the facilitator. Most move beyond it, happy in the knowledge that good performance is a fertile ground for discussion as much as poor performance is.