Using AI: Your Scenario-Building Assistant for Clinical Training
By: Angela Belitskus
Imagine a doctor diagnosing a rare condition or a nurse making a split-second decision in a crisis. Wouldn’t it be better if they had already practiced these moments in a realistic, risk-free environment? Scenario-based learning gives clinicians the chance to apply their knowledge in lifelike situations, improving their decision-making, confidence, and patient outcomes.
The Power and Challenge of Creating eLearning Scenarios
Branching interactions are a common type of scenario-based learning. You present learners with decision points. Each choice leads to a different outcome, mirroring the complexities of real-world problem-solving. It lets learners explore different paths and experience consequences in a realistic way.
Designing branching scenarios isn’t easy. Each decision point increases the complexity of the design requiring multiple realistic options. Because of this, instructional designers often choose traditional eLearning formats, such as linear modules or multiple-choice quizzes, which are easier to develop. While these simpler formats can still deliver valuable information, they don’t provide the same hands-on decision-making practice that branching scenarios offer.
Using AI as Your Scenario Assistant
AI can speed up the development process. It’s easier than ever to create rich branching scenarios without spending weeks mapping out every decision point. By using AI, instructional designers can quickly generate realistic case studies, decision trees, and feedback loops, allowing for more engaging and immersive clinical training. Let’s review some best practices for using AI as your scenario assistant.
1. Set up your AI model.
Set up your AI model for success. Give it background content before you start building your scenario. This background or source content usually comes from your subject matter experts (SMEs) or from research. Paid versions of ChatGPT let you upload documents. If your AI model doesn’t allow uploads, just paste your content. Remember to check the result for accuracy, based on your research or source content.
Example 1 – ChatGPT initial setup prompt:
Act as an instructional designer and create an introduction to an eLearning branching scenario. It’s for nursing home medical directors on how they can improve care transitions. Use the attached research, which explains care transitions from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities.
Result:
A hospitalist contacts your skilled nursing facility regarding the discharge of a patient requiring titrated intravenous (IV) potassium chloride infusions based on serial serum potassium levels. Given your facility’s scope of practice and the implications of IV electrolyte management in a subacute setting, you must determine the appropriate course of action while considering regulatory compliance, patient safety, and the feasibility of alternative treatment strategies.
2. Refine your first scenario draft with a plain language prompt.
Initial AI-generated content can be hard to read, especially when it’s for medical training. Have AI help you craft your branching scenario in clear, direct language. Plain language improves accessibility and keeps the scenario engaging. According to Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, learners process information through two channels: one for verbal information and one for visual information. Because working memory has a limited capacity, overly complex language can overwhelm learners, reducing their ability to retain key concepts. By simplifying text, you can reduce the cognitive load for your learners. Clinicians can focus on critical thinking rather than struggling with unnecessary complexity.
Example 2 – ChatGPT plain language refinement prompt:
Rewrite in plain language, active voice, 10th grade level.2
Result:
A hospital is preparing to discharge a patient to your skilled nursing facility. The patient requires titrated IV potassium chloride infusions based on serial serum potassium levels. As the medical director, you must decide how to handle this situation while ensuring patient safety.
3. Create your decision points and consequences.
Now that you’ve refined your opening scenario, it’s time to use AI to create decision points and outcomes. Keep the decision points simple. Sticking to two choices, with one outcome per choice, helps learners stay focused on the main concepts.
Example 3 – ChatGPT branching decisions and outcomes AI prompt:
Create two decision points, with one consequence for each decision. Continue to use plain language, active voice, 10th grade level.
Result:
- Decision: Accept the patient but attempt to modify the treatment plan without consulting the hospitalist.
- Outcome: The lack of proper potassium titration leads to a dangerous electrolyte imbalance, putting the patient at risk.
- Decision: Contact the hospitalist to explain that your facility is not equipped for titrated IV potassium infusions.
- Outcome (Correct): The hospitalist acknowledges the limitation and explores alternative placements. The patient is transferred to a facility that can safely manage their care
Don’t let the challenge of building realistic branching scenarios keep you from using this valuable training method. AI can streamline development, making it faster and more manageable. With AI, you can create realistic scenarios that give clinicians a safe space to practice critical decision-making.
Rainmakers Strategic Solutions
Rainmakers Strategic Solutions LLC (Rainmakers) is a certified 8(a), economically disadvantaged woman-owned small consulting firm, founded in 2008 to provide expertise and highly practical solutions in support of the government and commercial sectors. Rainmakers’ principals are respected professionals with demonstrated success for clients facing evolving requirements and constituent needs. We develop, implement, and improve programs by applying insightful methodologies and delivering innovative results that address and simplify complex issues, streamline processes, and reduce costs. We have a genuine focus on achieving and maintaining an impeccable business relationship with our customers and supporting them in their efforts to improve processes. Client satisfaction is our most valuable asset and exceeding our customers’ expectations is our primary goal. For more information about our key cornerstones—excellence, passion, and knowledge—visit www.rainmakerssolutions.com, call (443) 348-8067, or connect with us on our social media channels:
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