July 30, 2021By Lance Baily

Latest Clinical Simulation News From Around the World | July 2021

Helping healthcare simulation educators, administrators and learners to stay up to date on industry topics, HealthySimulation.com finds and shares relevant news and information from around the world. This news includes new partnership information, simulation grant opportunities, simulation center updates, simulation education and training initiatives and topics helping to transform the industry. Check out some of the world’s latest clinical simulation news by exploring the following updates:

Sentinel U Extends Grant Provides Opportunity for Nursing Educators

Sentinel U, a provider of web-based simulation education technology solutions for nursing schools, hospital systems and healthcare professionals, announced the launch of its Sentinel U Nursing Simulation Research Grant (SUNSRG) program. SUNSRG will allow scholars to conduct valuable research in nursing education using the organization’s cutting-edge virtual simulation products. Proposals will be accepted through September 30, 2021, and grant recipients will be notified by October 20, 2021. Selected proposals will receive in-kind Sentinel U products and robust support resources for the duration of the project.


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“We are honored to announce the launch of this grant program,” said Dr. Laura Gonzalez, vice president of clinical learning resources at Sentinel U. “We look forward to seeing the innovative ways the industry’s bright and talented researchers plan to use our virtual simulation technology to further advance the nursing field.”

Echo Healthcare Announces Partnership with SimLeader

Echo Healthcare Inc. announced that the company has signed a partnership agreement with SimLeader. The partnership is to distribute unparalleled simulation technology into the healthcare industry in mid-July, 2021.

“As a world leader in simulation-based training, we want to partner with other leaders in the industry to create the best outcomes for all future medical professionals. We are thrilled to be partnering with Echo Healthcare, a globally recognized leader with a passion for saving lives. This is a partnership that will truly make a difference when it comes to medical simulation,” said Robert-François Demers, CEO of SimLeader.


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“SimLeader goes well beyond expectations when it comes to providing the most realistic training tools. I am a former paramedic, and it blows me away to see training tools like ERBoxSim – the world’s leading immersive ambulance simulator – that are so incredibly realistic,” said Kevin King, CEO of Echo Healthcare. “Practice does not always mean perfect, but perfect practice does and SimLeader provides the tools to achieve perfect practice. We believe this partnership will save many lives by training future paramedics as realistically as possible. We could not be more proud and excited.”

GNSH Announces $10K in Grant Funding

The Global Network for Simulation in Healthcare (GNSH) Board of Directors announced $10,000 in grant funding to support two research studies that will investigate the use and associated outcomes of the GNSH 30-minute team engagement campaign in academic settings. GNSH invites proposals from faculty or researchers, as well as doctoral students, interested in exploring how teamwork, communication, and collaboration remain a focus when health professions students are attempting to best understand how to improve patient safety outcomes.

Proposals must be submitted by August 21, 2021, at 5 p.m. EST. Questions about the call for proposals or this initiative can be directed towards Pamela Jeffries, secretary of the GNSH board of directors, at pamela.jeffries@vanderbilt.edu. Recipients of this funding will be announced at the upcoming GNSH Annual Virtual Summit on September 9 and 10.

New Kognito Gender-Affirming Care Simulation

An article on verywellhealth.com shared that researchers at the healthcare simulation company Kognito developed a new simulation to help train healthcare professionals on how to provide gender-affirming care. The article adds that the idea behind the Kognito healthcare simulation is that through artificial intelligence and virtual simulation, medical professionals can practice gender-affirming care. The simulation covers three main learning objectives:

  • Understanding and using gender-neutral language, as well as honoring patients’ pronouns and identities without making assumptions.
  • Ensuring all questions are medically relevant and that patients understand why their answers are important to their care.
  • Knowing when and how to apologize when mistakes are made.

“The topic itself, gender-affirming care, is one that we had found through our own research was a significant need in terms of training,” Gurnek Singh, BS, MBA, who works on healthcare-related projects at Kognito and was involved in the creation of the simulation, told Verywell. “There’s a gap there that most, and especially early practicing professionals and students, are really worried about messing up.”

FundamentalVR CEO Featured on HIMSS TV

FundamentalVR CEO Richard Vincent joined the Director of Content Development and Editor in Chief of HIMSS Media, Jonah Comstock, to discuss using VR to take surgical training to a new level. In the video interview, Vincent explains how the transportability of VR simulators has helped lead to their expansion. He adds that it’s important to provide diverse offerings for different surgical training use cases.

Montana Tech begins construction of $2M nursing simulation center

An article on NBC Montana shared that construction on Montana Tech’s new nursing simulation center has begun. Director of Nursing Karen Vandaveer told the news station that the school’s nursing program decided to “bump it up a little” with clinical simulation because they feel the practice improves the quality of nursing students and nursing graduates, which in the end, improves the healthcare of the citizens of Montana and the community.

The new facility will include patient rooms, debriefing rooms, nursing stations, a medication room and telehealth suites. Montana Tech officials said they expect to have the simulation center completed and ready for students by January 2022.

UMSL’s Nursing Learning Resource and Simulation Center to receive $1.5 million

According to UMSL Daily, the continued renovation and expansion of the Nursing Learning Resource and Simulation Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis is getting a boost in funding from the state of Missouri. This comes as Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed the FY22 state operating budget bills on Wednesday evening and directed $1.5 million to the UMSL College of Nursing to assist with the $7 million project.

The overall project, designed by the St. Louis firm Archimages, will create a 21,000-square-foot immersive learning center that provides state-of-the-art space, equipment and technology to train the next generation of nurses. The new facility will increase the number of simulation rooms from five to 11, allowing the College of Nursing to grow the number of pre-licensure BSN students it graduates by 20 percent annually.

​​Nursing Professor Emerita Funds Interdisciplinary Health Simulation Center

According to Georgia State University, Professor Emerita of Nursing, Alice S. Demi has committed $1 million to the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions to build Georgia State University’s first interdisciplinary health simulation center. The center, which will bear her name, will be used to teach students in Lewis College majors, including nursing, health informatics, nutrition, occupational therapy, physical therapy and respiratory therapy.

Demi’s gift will also benefit nursing faculty in the short term. The first dual-purpose endowment, the $1 million gift, will be invested during the planning and design phase of the center and funds generated from that investment will be used for professional development in the School of Nursing.

CTVHCS Staff Engage in Infection Control Escape Room

According to MedicalXpress.com, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System staff have reportedly used the concept for a flu pandemic escape room. Participants were given a pandemic, novel flu scenario and asked to select appropriate PPE prior to entering the room. Once inside, participants had to work as a team to find all the clues in a short amount of time. Since participating in the escape room, staff is now reporting increased staff handwashing and acceptance of flu vaccines as a result.

“Engaging healthcare staff in the basics of infection prevention and control is a cornerstone of patient safety,” said 2021 APIC President Ann Marie Pettis, BSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC. “This team proves that when learning is fun, we can achieve better health outcomes, and that’s a win for everyone.”

UW-Green Bay Faculty Train with New Manikins

Nursing instructors in UW-Green Bay’s College of Health, Education and Social Welfare, recently trained on new high-tech patient simulators (or manikins) inside the Aurora BayCare Nursing Skills Center on the Green Bay Campus. According to the university, faculty including Christine Vandenhouten, Susan Hopkinson, Sharon Gajeski, Nicole Gouin, Myunghee Jun and Kristin Coleman worked with a trainer from Laerdal to develop scenarios to simulate patient situations that will be used as part of instruction in fall 2021.

‘Cape Verde Wants Clinical Simulation Center Similar to That of SESARAM’

According to a post on Madeira.blog, SESARAM received a delegation from Cape Verde to meet the Centro de Simulação Clínica da Madeira (CSCM), with the aim of being able to replicate in that country the creation of a center of this type. The National Director of Cape Verdean Health, Jorge Barreto, explained that the visit falls within the in-place knowledge of the activity, facilities and creation of the CSCM.



“We chose CSCM because Cape Verde intends to install a similar center,” Barreto explained, recognizing that a more or less closed plan will be created after the visit. “While space does not exist, there can be opportunities for exchange, cooperation, training that we can do before the space is available and the idea is that we have this connection in a more frequent and constant way and rely on the support of the CSCM to help us in what is needed to implement the center in Cape Verde.”

UVA: The History of Simulation

The University of Virginia (UVA) shared an article discussing the beginnings of clinical simulation. From anatomical models and task trainers in the mid to late 1800s, technology has come a long way. UVA gives a breakdown of which products were developed in which decades, and shares where they were used. The university also makes note of which companies and products helped to spearhead the advancement of clinical simulation use.

‘21 Ways Medical Digital Twins will Transform Healthcare’

VentureBeat published an article titled “21 ways medical digital twins will transform healthcare” which discusses the adoption of digital twins to improve personalized medicine, healthcare organization performance, and new medicines and devices. This article shares 21 ways digital twins are starting to shape healthcare today, broken roughly into personalized medicine, improving healthcare organizations, and drug and medical devices and development. Author George Lawton writes that, in fact, many types of digital twins span multiple use cases and even categories; it is these cross-domain use cases that form a major strength of digital twins.

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