On August the 4th, Monash Simulation hosted 12 medical consultants at the Clinical Event Debriefing Course, with individuals from the disciplines of intensive care, emergency, anaesthesia and neonatology. No department has shone brighter in regards to uptake than the intensive care units at Monash Health. Monash Health Intensive Care was well-represented with two unit heads, Dr Stuart Wilson and Dr Brendan Murfin, and deputy director, Dr Adrian Pakavakis at the course. Dr Girish Kumar, Dr Greg Brogan and Dr Justin Rheese, advocates for well-being, were also in attendance.
Monash Simulation ran the inaugural Clinical Event Debriefing Course in 2025.
The course was the seed of an idea from Dr Kerrianne Huynh, the Head of ICU Simulation for Monash Health. Her experience of witnessing how ward staff dealt with the emotional and organisational fallout of critical events strongly informed her perspective. It is the great work and expertise at Monash Simulation that has turned a seed into not only reality, but a vehicle for change.
Since the development of the interprofessional clinical event debriefing program, Monash Simulation has seen massive interest both within and outside of the Monash Health network for clinical event debriefing training and the course is going from strength to strength.
In our evolving world, psychological safety is an essential part of the workplace. By the end of 2026, 70% of outreach nurses and 40% of ICU consultants at MMC and VHH will be trained in clinical event debriefing. This represents an enormous achievement, reflecting the culture of clinical excellence, empathetic leadership, quality improvement and psychological first aid role modelled by the intensive care units at Monash Health.
Below is a testimonial from one of our participants:
Terrific framework re how to approach and what can be achieved in such a short timeframe. And concept of co-debriefer…absolute gold!
An image of the CLEAR Clinical Event Debriefing Tool can be found below:
If you’d like more information on clinical event debriefing, please contact Monash Simulation on monashsimulation@monashhealth.org.
Written by Dr Kerrianne Huynh, intensivist and Head of ICU Simulation at Monash Health