Experiential Learning in a Gamified Pharmacy Simulation: A Qualitative Exploration Guided by Semantic Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Results
3.1. Semantic Analysis
3.2. Thematic Analysis
3.2.1. Teamwork
I have also experienced the power of strong communication and teamwork, and how much people are willing to support you if you just ask for it.(P141, 2018)
I have really learnt a lot about teamwork over the past few weeks. Having access to colleagues to help brainstorm and solve problems really is an invaluable asset, and one that I think many people overlook.(P147, 2018)
Being a part of a group and being responsible for a team mark is definitely a bizarre kind of pressure. A couple of the people in my group being the highest achievers of the class, I had to make sure that I never lost any point for them.(P003, 2016)
I was concerned about time management within the group, group member participation, and the marking per activity. However, even only after the first day all of those concerns have disappeared.(P021, 2016)
At first I was very scared and anxious that I would let the team down due to my lack of real work experience... As the game progressed I became less anxious and my confidence in my abilities grew...(P133, 2018)
After witnessing how driven and competitive each team is by the PharmG scoreboard, I am starting to feel we are all placing too much value on how many patients we are accumulating instead of what we are gaining from the experience.(P005, 2016)
But really, the scores don’t mean anything to me. I’m just thankful I had such an amazing team that was supportive and we all tackled the game as a group, there was no leader we shared all of the jobs and gave help when it was needed.(P138, 2018)
I have found that through teaching and explaining things to my teammates that I am in fact learning things and expanding my knowledge on cases and learning from other’s opinions and experiences.(P073, 2017)
I think I need to understand that everyone has their individual way of learning and they may not appreciate my feedback the way I would. … For future feedback I need to make sure I include positive points as well as constructive feedback to make sure my criticism doesn′t come across too negative.(P008, 2016)
Overall, as frustrating as this may have seemed to me, I have found this experience invaluable, and I liken my role in these events to that of a manager, where I have had to settle disputes between employees to allow for work to be completed unhindered.(P128, 2018)
The scenarios included many ‘walk-in’ customers with specific queries and product requests. ... It became almost a struggle for power with questions being asked over and over again and the conversation going around in circles.(P093, 2017)
Proactively dealing with conflict within a workplace environment is not a strength of mine, however, during the first couple of days I was left with no alternative but to speak up and give an opinion, which has impacted my self-confidence in a profound and positive way.(P085, 2017)
3.2.2. Medicines Provision
We quickly sorted ourselves and found jobs for everyone, mine was dispensing and counselling a medication to be collected by the patient later in the day. This made me feel as if I actually was in a real pharmacy with real patients.(P004, 2016)
This has made me realize I need to prioritize my counselling points for each script. In practice, not dispensing a patient’s prescription in time is not good for the business and my reputation as a pharmacist.(P023, 2016)
Something that I couldn′t stop thinking about today was the fact that I disclosed a patient’s confidential information, and I chastise myself over it... I couldn’t even believe how foolish I was to have ignored the warning bells inside my head.(P018, 2016)
I liked that in the game there was plenty of cases based on things that we wouldn’t always think about. For example, questions from patients about what drugs they can use in certain sports or vaccination enquires, this made me use a variety of resources that I don’t use often.(P125, 2018)
3.2.3. Patient-Centeredness
In all my future counsellings, I will always consider the patient as an equally effective member in the healthcare team. After all, the patient is the centre of care.(P004, 2016)
It was [a] realistic learning experience to deal with tough clients from different backgrounds.(P140, 2018)
This experienced caught me off guard and has challenged the way I will deal with them in the future. To prepare for similar consultations, I should develop a process to assist me in evaluating the impact an impairment/disability may have on a person’s ability to take in the counselling/advice I am providing.(P079, 2017)
For last week, when the elderly lady had died … I felt sad, that it was a case of penicillin related allergies, and that the other pharmacists hadn′t picked up on this.(P166, 2018)
...one of the highlights of the game that really touched me and changed my level of thinking was when we had an actor pretending his close family member passed away. That made me very upset, it made me think about how possible it is to deal with that kind of customers in the pharmacy during our everyday lives.(P075, 2017)
My understanding of patient centered care has grown significantly during the game … I believe every case should be done differently, it is the only way to provide holistic care.(P026, 2016)
3.2.4. Future Practice
The problems we have had, reinforces to me the importance and value of communication with your staff members in the workplace to achieve positive outcomes. ... Even though this is called the game, I can see how it is preparing me to become a diligent Pharmacist.(P151, 2018)
So far, this activity has been a great learning experience and has positively changed my attitude towards collaborating with other health professionals. I have learnt to be more confident, calm and professional during communication between another health profession/students and also between a customer under highly stressful situations.(P089, 2017)
... one particular incident ... that taught me a lot, ... would be when I was ill prepared for my interaction with a prescriber. I learned that I should be far more prepared and armed with knowledge/suggestions or secondary options before calling a prescriber and taking up some of their valuable time.(P139, 2018)
Even though it wasn′t me that made such a careless error, I realize that in practice nobody will be checking my work, and one small mistake can have devastating consequences not only for my career in pharmacy, but a patient’s health and wellbeing.(P133, 2018)
3.2.5. Learning Experience
I felt like I have exercised all my emotions during this Pharm G experience, but was also grateful for the experience. I have been shaped in all areas that I would not have had an opportunity to work on if I was practicing in a real pharmacy.(P024, 2016)
We have come to almost the end of one of if not the most intense learning experience of the pharmacy degree. Something that I will gladly say has been an invaluable experience…(P002, 2016)
Despite the rough start, I still see the value in such a simulation, as there is no other environment where you can gain real-life experience in a way where there is no risk of compromising patient safety.(P088, 2017)
Although we were getting assessed on everything we did, we didn’t receive feedback on everything. That was somewhat stressful … we do not often get feedback for what we do out in the real world. We have to learn from how people react to our actions and sometimes feedback from colleagues.(P134, 2018)
I think that this activity made me a more professional and independent learner because even if we work as a team, I still have to make evidence-based decisions for the scenarios I was handling.(P099, 2017)
Actually, sometimes some mistakes are a good opportunity to grow stronger and to be more resilient.(P168, 2018)
Though I have learnt a lot about myself and my other teammates. This game has changed my views on how a team can work together and how to manage a task load. It’s been a challenging experience but I’m glad I had it.(P019, 2016)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
Participants | Male | 8 | (29.6) | 15 | (31.9) | 17 | (34.7) | 40 | (32.5) |
Female | 19 | (70.4) | 32 | (68.1) | 32 | (65.3) | 83 | (67.5) | |
Total | 27 | 47 | 49 | 123 | |||||
Journals | Male | 96 | (29.8) | 54 | (32.0) | 75 | (31.0) | 225 | (30.7) |
Female | 226 | (70.2) | 115 | (68.0) | 167 | (69.0) | 508 | (69.3) | |
Total | 322 | 169 | 242 | 733 |
Theme | Concepts |
---|---|
Teamwork | team, members, work, tasks, group, day, everyone, started, doing, time, person, pharmacy, different, people, game, week, PharmG 1 |
Medicines Provision | case, counselling, thought, felt, due, down, time, phone, doing, dispensing, scripts, today, marks |
Patient-Centeredness | patient, medication, information, doctor, care, asked, use, best, health, situation, take, need, believe, able, things |
Future Practice | pharmacist, knowledge, future, practice, real, life, health, situation |
Learning Experience | learning, experience, feel, better, real, skills, people |
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Hope, D.L.; Rogers, G.D.; Grant, G.D.; King, M.A. Experiential Learning in a Gamified Pharmacy Simulation: A Qualitative Exploration Guided by Semantic Analysis. Pharmacy 2021, 9, 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9020081
Hope DL, Rogers GD, Grant GD, King MA. Experiential Learning in a Gamified Pharmacy Simulation: A Qualitative Exploration Guided by Semantic Analysis. Pharmacy. 2021; 9(2):81. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9020081
Chicago/Turabian StyleHope, Denise L., Gary D. Rogers, Gary D. Grant, and Michelle A. King. 2021. "Experiential Learning in a Gamified Pharmacy Simulation: A Qualitative Exploration Guided by Semantic Analysis" Pharmacy 9, no. 2: 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9020081