October 1, 2021By Lance Baily

Latest Clinical Simulation News From Around the World | October 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 clinical simulation tips and tricks, industry updates, simulation center news, the latest technological innovations and more. Together, these industry updates help paint a picture of where the healthcare simulation industry is at present and where the industry is headed, as the scope of clinical simulation practice expands across the field. Below are some of the world’s latest clinical simulation updates.

NLN, Laerdal MedicaL Announce New Partnership

The National League for Nursing (NLN) and long-standing Alliance partner Laerdal Medical have announced a new partnership to help advance transformation of the standard of resuscitation care for in-hospital cardiac arrest. The organizations are committed to supporting Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) program adoption by nursing programs at higher education institutions to help prepare future nursing professionals to respond to cardiac arrest events competently and confidently — leading to improvement in survival rates.


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Video: Manikin Cleaning Tips & Tricks

In Episode 1 of “This Old Manikin,” David Shablak, NRP, CHSOS-A explains how to begin cleaning a manikin upon uncrating. He goes over some basic techniques and has two guests, Amy Follmer and Sarah Rucker, join him to discuss advanced methods of cleaning a manikin. During the remainder of this web series about healthcare simulation operations, Shablak will be taking the manikin through the process of refurbishment, fixing what can be fixed and sharing what makes sense along the way. The show will also feature different types of episodes including projects, tips and tricks, vendor showcases, and even a few “awesome surprises.”

“Association of Simulation Training With Rates of Medical Malpractice Claims Among Obstetrician-Gynecologists”

New from the Center for Medical Simulation: A new study in “Obstetrics + Gynecology” finds a significant reduction in malpractice claims against physicians who participate in simulation-based communication and teamwork training, including a dose-response effect for each instance of training. Researchers performed a retrospective analysis comparing the claim rates before and after simulation training among 292 obstetrician-gynecologists, all of whom were insured by the same malpractice insurer, who attended one or more simulation training sessions from 2002 to 2019. The insurer then provided malpractice claims data involving study physicians, along with durations of coverage, which we used to calculate claim rates, expressed as claims per 100 physician coverage years.


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“High-fidelity simulation and nurse clinical competence — an integrative review”

Published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, the aim of this review was to synthesize current knowledge of high-fidelity simulation practices. Based on an integrative review using the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model, the study also sought to determine the impact of high-fidelity simulation on nurse clinical competence in the acute care setting. This is an understudied area, as there is no current consensus or standardization surrounding best practices for the delivery of high-fidelity simulation in the acute care setting.

“Welcome to our new robot … nurses”

This Hackaday.com article by Al Williams discusses how Hanson robotics wants to make robots, but not “Lost in Space” “Robby”-style robots. According to the article, in conjunction with Singularity Studio, the robot resembles the company’s “Sophia” robot, which is made to be as realistic as possible given current technology and, apparently, has Saudi citizenship. The robot [Grace] has heat-sensitive cameras and other sensors so it can read data from patients directly as well.

“The future: Can virtual reality bridge the medical education gap?”

This Med-Tech News article, written by Luna Williams, examines ways that medical technology can be used to help engage younger generations in medical and clinical education. Furthermore, the article discusses how virtual reality helps to bridge the medical education gap that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Williams writes that “there has never been a stronger imperative to find ways to support, motivate and encourage medical students and employees.”

“Simulation-based training key in healthcare”

In this opinion piece, Michael Kiptoo emphasizes that the future of clinical medicine lies in simulation-based training. He says that clinical simulation has been used for centuries to teach various skills, and that the practice involves a lifelike model of a process or system. He additionally notes that, as with any innovation, the use of simulations requires specialized training, which may not always be readily available even to training institutions. This is why he believes that the government should not only invest in setting up simulation labs, but also in training of personnel.

“Exploring the Role of Virtual Reality to Support Clinical Diabetes Training — A Pilot Study”

Published in the National Library of Medicine, this article discusses a study that aimed to evaluate the use of virtual reality to help nonspecialist clinicians manage clinical scenarios related to diabetes. The pilot project, titled “DEVICE” (Diabetes Emergencies: Virtual Interactive Clinical Education) was developed in collaboration with Oxford Medical Simulation. Fully-interactive immersive VR scenarios were created to stimulate real-life diabetic emergencies, after which users received personalized feedback and performance metrics.

“CMC Steamboat opens nursing simulation lab; first of three labs planned on West Slope”

This Steamboat Pilot & Today article highlights the recreated hospital suite at the Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs campus. The state-of-the-art lab is built to look like several rooms in a hospital nursing suite, with high-tech patients that have vital signs that can tell students where their pain is, and that can be programmed for various medical scenarios. Nursing students are allowed to complete as many as half their clinical hours in a simulation lab like the one now open in Steamboat, which can be crucial in mountain towns, as clinical hours in smaller hospitals can be limited.

“Speech pathology lab prepares students: Lab provides practical, hands-on experience”

Published in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s “The Penn,” this article shares how speech pathology learners at IUP are acquiring hands-on experience in the department’s simulation lab. IUP’s lab allows the program to focus on the healthcare aspect of speech-language pathology. Additionally, the lab allows students to explore a variety of career paths and options during their time at the university. The lab also allows students to gain practical skills and confidence within their discipline before they enter the healthcare field.

“New Interprofessional Simulation Center to provide experiential healthcare learning for Health Sciences students”

According to this article published in Today at Elon, Elon University has opened a new Interprofessional Simulation Center that will serve as an experiential healthcare learning hub supporting over 250 students in the School of Health Sciences. The state-of-the-art center is located on the second floor of the Gerald L. Francis Center. It’s equipped with multiple beds and designed to provide students will the ability to practice healthcare techniques on high- and low-fidelity manikins, standardized patients and clients from the community using superior recording equipment in a variety of settings.

“San Antonio VA’s Simulation Center earns accreditation”

An official website of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Vantage Point blog announced that the San Antonio VA simulation center received SimLEARN Innovation Cell for Education (SLICE) accreditation. According to Simulation Program Director Debbie Bartoshevich, this certification will allow the simulation center to support the deployment of a standardized simulation education, evaluation and data collection method. She added that the simulation center can now educate facility instructors to teach national programs through remote learning.

“We created holograms you can touch: You could soon shake a virtual colleague’s hand”



This article in TechXplore discusses how holograms are already being used in a variety of ways such as medical systems, education, art, security and defense. According to the article, scientists are still developing ways to use lasers, modern digital processors, and motion-sensing technologies to create several different types of holograms which could change the way humans interact.

“Simulation is a game-changer for the medical devices industry”

In this PCQUEST article, Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President — India and South Asia Pacific of Ansys explains how India can leverage simulation technology to reduce product development cost, improve reliability and performance, and speed up innovations in the healthcare sector. He explains that medical uses for simulation are as diverse as medical specialties. Furthermore, he explains that companies can look at In Silico methods for everything from cardiovascular stents and pacemakers, to custom 3D-printed orthopedic implants, to smart wearables like insulin pumps.

“Patient Simulators: From CPR Dummies to Mixed Reality High-Fidelity Robots”

Simulators play an important role in preparing the next generation of healthcare practitioners. For this article, Technology Networks spoke to James Archetto, vice president at Gaumard Scientific, to learn more about the history of patient simulators, the most recent advances and what is on the horizon. In his interview, Archetto explains that to create an immersive learning experience, Gaumard is always working to enhance outcomes of students. He shares that the realism of simulators is what creates a truly immersive simulator experience.

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