CAN-Sim Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation

The Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators Using Simulation or CAN-Sim is a collaboration of nurse educators for excellence in healthcare simulation education and research. Connection of nurse educators and allied health professionals from across Canada and beyond internationally to share their knowledge, resources and expertise in areas of clinical simulation which also includes research and education. HealthySimulation.com is a proud media partner of CAN-Sim.

CAN-Sim Mission and Vision

The CAN-Sim vision is “Excellence in simulation education and research through networking.” The CAN-Sim mission is “Connecting nurse educators and allied health partners from across Canada and beyond to share knowledge, resources and expertise in areas of simulation education and research.”

CAN-Sim believes that collaboration strengthens their reach and also impact. CAN-Sim believes that their mentorship to their members strengthens their membership. CAN-Sim believes that innovation moves the art and science of healthcare simulation forward. CAN-Sim believes that scholarly activities support nurse educators to be inspired to be a part of new research.

The strategic priorities of CAN-Sim are in alignment with their mission and vision. CAN-Sim has identified these strategic priorities:

• To support the collaboration between nurse educators in healthcare simulation design and integration in the context of nursing and interdisciplinary teams
• To enhance expertise in evidence-based healthcare simulation teaching and learning through professional development and mentorship
• To enhance clinical simulation-based learning through the sharing of scenarios and resources between members
• To implement strategies that promote the development, application, and dissemination of healthcare simulation research
• To support a continuum of research activities to assist and sustain research among nursing and related healthcare educators

View the LEARN CE/CME Platform Webinar Transforming Nursing Education: Embracing Virtual Reality in Training to learn more!

Membership to CAN-Sim provides a number of great opportunities to be able to network and share resources with nurse educators and allied health professionals that use clinical simulation not only across Canada but also internationally. CAN-Sim members benefit from a high number of network opportunities and also the ability to share resources with other simulation nurse educators from all over Canada and at an international reach. CAN-Sim has a variety of membership options to meet potential members needs.

CAN-Sim has over 120 virtual simulation games available currently and more are currently in development. There is also access to 100 healthcare simulation scenarios, recorded webinars and a large amount of research and resources. A CAN-Sim membership benefits individuals and also organizations in many ways. There are a number of different membership categories which are available on offer to suit the needs of many involved in healthcare simulation education.

There are a number of membership options available when interested to join CAN-Sim. A full membership includes access to over 100 clinical simulations and over 200 virtual simulation games and a number of other resources. There is an annual membership option which allows for access to all CAN-Sim benefits for a period of one year. There is a lifetime membership option which allows access to all CAN-Sim benefits in addition to the open access resources in perpetuity. The organizational membership allows an individual and up to 15 other people in an organization receive access to all CAN-Sim benefits. The membership options are incredibly reasonable given the access and resources provided to members of CAN-Sim.

Limited memberships are available which provide access only to the open source clinical simulations and virtual simulation games. There is also a general member option which provides access to the monthly newsletter and open access resources. There is a student membership option which provides access to the monthly newsletter and open access resources. These membership options are all free to sign up for.

Paid Membership Benefits to CAN-Sim

With paid memberships members will receive these benefits:

• Monthly CAN-Sim newsletter
• Access to all virtual simulation games
• Access to all healthcare simulation scenarios
• Network capabilities with access to membership directory
• Research mentorship and collaborations
• Exclusive research grant opportunities and awards
• Free registration to CAN-Sim webinars
• Access to the CAN-Sim webinar library
• Discount of 15% on all CAN-Sim workshops
• Membership certificates

How to Become a CAN-Sim Member that Provides Contributions

There is the option to be able to receive a free annual membership through sharing a developed healthcare simulation scenario or virtual game. In exchange for this, there will be access given to:

• CAN-Sim scenario design templates
• CAN-Sim evaluation tools
• Comprehensive repository of bilingual peer-reviewed scenarios
• Variety of serious virtual games used for pre simulation preparation or full clinical simulations
• Opportunity to collaborate in various healthcare simulation research projects
• Mentorship from healthcare simulation experts across Canada

As a member that contributes to CAN-Sim this ensures that the CAN-Sim scenario library will continue to grow and also supports the free exchange of healthcare simulation resources. CAN-Sim is proud to be able to provide access to a large number of open-access virtual simulations and additional virtual simulations for both paid and contributing members. French language games are in final development stages and will be available on request to CAN-Sim in the future.

The CAN-Sim members only area has a broad range of virtual simulation topics such as: sexuality/gender, racism, communication and team based skills as well as a number of both adult, pediatric and community based virtual simulations. In the members only there is also an open access scenario library from a number of external institutions and contributors. The members area also has an open access webinar series with a broad range of topics from a number of quality presenters.

Currently this is a list of the members-only webinars that CAN-Sim members and their partners have completed and are available to be viewed:

• Developing family visit simulations to engage first year nursing students
• CASN Virtual Simulation Vendor Showcase
• Why is Debriefing so Important and How Do I Use it to Foster Learning?
• Virtual Experiences in Nursing Education: Experiences of Canadian Nurse Educators

Launch of the CAN-Sim Virtual Simulation Game Website

• Formal training efforts to develop simulation educators: An integrative review
• Building on the Basics and Best Practices for Debriefing
• Establishing Psychological Safety In Simulation
• Preparing for the CHSE Exam
• CASN Innovations in Teaching and Learning – The Use of Virtual Simulation Games (VSG) in Nursing

A number of CAN-Sim members expressed interest to explore research collaborations and so CAN-Sim established a healthcare simulation research interest group. This research group is a benefit which is offered to CAN-Sim full members (either paid or contributing members) that provides opportunities for collaboration and mentorship in healthcare simulation research.

Research interest group benefits include: monthly meet ups, multi-site research collaborations, mentorship for research design and implementation, mentorship for research presentations and publications, the ability to network with healthcare simulation researchers and access to current research interest group projects.

The Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim) Board of Directors and Research Grants Committee are delighted to fund impactful research projects that relate to healthcare simulation. The CAN-Sim Research Grants were established for nurse educators and graduate student nurses to assist to build nursing simulation research for both those interested from Canada and also internationally.

The general eligibility criteria for CAN-Sim research grants will be to support healthcare simulation and/or nurse-led research or innovation projects. These projects may involve any type of clinical simulation, such as: high-fidelity patient simulation, standardized patient simulation, virtual simulation, virtual reality, and escape rooms. Projects that apply for the CAN-Sim research grant should address a clinical or educational research gap.

The lead applicant for a CAN-Sim research grant must be a current member (paid or contributing member) and must have held a CAN-Sim membership for at least one year prior to the submission date. CAN-Sim Board of Directors members are not eligible to apply as principal investigators (PI) for research grants but may be involved as a collaborator. Research Grants Committee members are eligible to apply but may not review applications within their own submission category.

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