Shawna Parsons, DNP '18; Michele Kuszajewski, assistant director of the Center for Nursing Discovery; and Chris Muckler, associate professor; recently published an article entitled "High-Fidelity Simulation Training for Nurse Anesthetists Managing Malignant Hyperthermia: A Quality Improvement Project" in Clinical Simulation in Nursing. Debra Meritt, staff nurse anesthetist at Cone Health System, is a co-author of this article. 

Abstract

Background: Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a low-frequency, high-impact event that many certified registered nurse anesthetists may be unprepared to manage due to limited clinical experience.

Method: A pretest, posttest, repeated-measures design was used to evaluate whether certified registered nurse anesthetists' MH knowledge improved immediately after and three months after high-fidelity simulation training. Technical and nontechnical skills were assessed during simulation training. 

Results: After implementation, mean MH knowledge scores and self-confidence levels remained higher at three-month postimplementation than pretest scores. 

Conclusion: MH simulation training increased participant's knowledge and self-confidence needed to manage an MH crisis.