Virtual Lactation Counseling Simulation Sessions for Diverse Lactation Minor Students: Using Grounded Theory to Classify Students’ Debriefing Questions

Introduction: This study explored the value of simulations to improve programs that train and prepare lactation counselors from diverse communities. Breastfeeding rates are lower than desired. Increasing diverse rural lactation counselors is critical. Classification of student input will help strengthen future telehealth lactation counseling simulations for students’ understanding, and communication. Methods: Multiple one-hour small virtual lactation counseling simulation sessions with diverse students included five patient questions and consultations by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with debriefs. Qualitative design with Grounded Theory based on National League of Nursing (NLN) Jeffries Simulation Theory and Lewin’s Change Theory was used. Results: Guiding students to communicate with new parents, demonstrating how to support parents’ autonomy, providing clear definitions of terms and intent, and understanding physiologic outcomes are critical elements of training students for future lactation practice. Discussion: Not only were there students from diverse cultures, but also students within a wide age range, and wide life-experience range. Having small groups of students on the virtual simulation sessions allowed each student to be called on after each question to maximize their participation and answer or clarify any questions. It appears that as students became more familiar with the course content and with the simulation methodology, they were more comfortable participating in the session debriefs. Students often seemed surprised by the questions and the answers. Conclusions: Results suggest virtual lactation counseling simulations as an addition to class instruction are a successful format for training students with the knowledge and skills needed to work as lactation counselors.