For decades, KidsPeace utilized a training model primarily focused on meeting regulatory requirements – mandatory certifications, policy reviews, and compliance-driven corrective actions. The goal was efficiency: completing as much training online as possible in the shortest amount of time, then placing new hires on the floor as quickly as possible.
Now, KidsPeace employs a training model based on the integration of classroom teaching and simulation learning.
New direct-care KidsPeace associates working in our residential or hospital settings spend, on average, more than 40 hours of classroom training before doing anything else. The classroom training includes some experiential activity in order to prepare them for the next step. After procuring the necessary certifications and other basic skills, our new hires participate in an innovative “bridge” we call Simulation Laboratory (Sim Lab).
A highly skilled team, with nearly a century of experience, developed the approach over several years, drawing from the work of Edgar Dale, a 20th Century educator. He proposed that that people experience the world in a structured order that influences how efficiently they learn; later, others expanded on his ideas, suggesting that the mode of learning plays a crucial role in memory retention. The key takeaway is that the level of involvement in learning directly impacts how well individuals absorb and apply knowledge. (Parmley, 2022)
Sim Lab allows the learner to attempt skills through trial and error in a safe, controlled setting before using those skills in real life. For example, a new hire would practice verbal de-escalation with a trainer/actor who is not going to actually lash out at the new associate physically if they say the wrong thing or get frustrated.
Our simulations:
- Take place in a real-life environment with situations that mimic real-life
- Present scenarios that our new hires are very likely to see
- Are open-ended, giving them the chance to make their own decisions
- Allow them to interact with trainer/actors that are in specific roles of “clients” with whom they are very likely to work
- Are guided by tenured expert Program & Staff Development Specialists
- Conclude with a time of reflection and discussion
Simulation learning has been used for decades in areas like aviation, the military, and healthcare. We find that through Sim Lab, those ideas can be applied in the field of mental health as well, ensuring a comprehensive and impactful learning experience.
KidsPeace has identified 12 Main Competencies of Direct Care Workers that are addressed in our New Associate Orientation and Simulation Lab. They are:
1. Monitoring of clients
Knowing where all clients are located at all times, including their physical and mental well-being; physically tracking with eyes on all clients at required intervals.
2. Professional conduct
Understanding and displaying professional presence as it pertains to dress, hygiene, tone of voice, body language, and facial expression towards clients, customers, visitors, and all colleagues.
3. Building therapeutic relationships
Understanding and conducting oneself within healthy therapeutic boundaries in relationships with clients and their families; demonstrating the ability to build rapport with new clients.
4. Basic routines and program facilitation
Demonstrating the ability to conduct prescribed mental health programming in a group setting with clients as well as facilitate activities of daily living.
5. Therapeutic group facilitation
Demonstrate the ability to facilitate basic conversation with clients in a group setting; work with other direct care workers to facilitate connectivity in a group setting.
6. Suicide Prevention
Demonstrate the ability to recognize warning signs of impending suicide attempt in the context of mental health programming; be able to identify risks in the milieu.
7. Prevention of boundary breaking behavior
Demonstrate the ability to resist client attempts to draw direct care workers into boundary-breaking behavior; show the ability to identify warning signs of boundary-breaking behavior by other adults.
8. Basic counseling and interaction
Demonstrate the ability to begin basic conversations with clients, indicate level of ease in engaging with clients through board and card games; show the ability to affirm and validate emotions.
9. Verbal de-escalation
Demonstrate the ability to verbally de-escalate an upset client; demonstrate the ability to construct an effective timeline of the client’s perspective of what happened during a critical incident.
10. Crisis management
Participate in a simulation that has the potential to escalate into a full physical intervention; demonstrate any/all crisis management skills necessary in the simulation in order to de-escalate the situation using the least restrictive options.
11. Clinical documentation
Demonstrate the ability to construct a document that correctly communicates what has happened during a critical incident, using professional clinical language.
12. Self-care
Show the ability to use correct shared language when describing experiences related to burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma; create a self-care plan and a safety plan.
KidsPeace collects data from the Sim Lab experience including the experience and opinions of the participants, the perspectives of the supervisors and also the scores of the participants in the scenarios, which are shared with them and their supervisors. This information helps inform continuous quality improvement for Simulation Lab.
Participants rate Sim Lab 3.8 out of 4 stars – and participant evaluations indicate the most effective aspects of Sim Lab are:
- zone coverage simulations
- shadow experience
- relationship building simulation
- basic skills proficiency training
- verbal de-escalation simulation
Building on the success of the original Sim Lab, KidsPeace is gearing up for an exciting expansion across multiple locations within its continuum. Beyond its current scope, the organization plans to integrate Sim Lab into additional learning domains, including leadership development programs, to further enhance training and skill-building opportunities.
This initiative reflects a commitment to innovative and impactful learning experiences, ensuring that more associates and leaders benefit from hands-on, immersive education.
Healing Magazine thanks members of the KidsPeace Organizational Development & Training department for their help in demonstrating the Sim Lab capability:
Renee Lembach, Program and Staff Development Specialist
Jason Mountain, Program and Staff Development Specialist
Edris Colon-Rodriguez, Program and Staff Development Specialist
Tricia Doerr, Program and Staff Development Specialist
Rachel Lipton, Assistant Training Manager
Barb Kendall, Director of Training
