For the last day of Healthcare Simulaiton Week we are double dipping. The spotlight is on two wonderful individuals. Katie Kunnen, Associate Professor at Calvin University and Jessica Manning, Immersive Learning Coordinator, Purdue Global School of Nursing.
In honor of Healthcare Simulation Week, we are spotlighting the professionals who dedicate their lives to improving healthcare outcomes through training, skill development, and research. We sat down and asked questions about how they approach their career in simulation healthcare.
Katie Kunnen
Associate Professor
Calvin University
1. What inspired you to pursue a career in healthcare simulation?
"I love being creative and simulation allows me to use my imagination and innovation to inspire student learning. One of my favorite activities is developing a new scenario that will both interest and challenge my students."
2. How do you stay updated with the latest advancements and best practices in simulation technology and techniques?
"I attend the INACSL (International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning) conferences every few years and try to stay up to date reading through the literature."
3. What aspects of your role as a healthcare simulation leader bring you the most satisfaction?
"It is satisfying to be able to provide a technological solution to an end-user instructor who is desperate for assistance when their scenario is on-hold with a group of students, due to a technology issue. That same satisfaction is felt when I can troubleshoot a puzzling and/or complex problem in the labs and fix the issue."
4. What have been your "aha" moments that have reshaped the way you approach simulations?
"Having a standardized patient (SP) for our mental health scenarios is crucial. Students are learning about therapeutic communication and de-escalation, so having patients who can include nonverbal communication is key. Of course, making sure the SP is trained both to stay on script and to debrief in a thoughtful way with the students is also equally important. Besides developing and creating scenarios and scripts, I spend a good amount of time training our SPs. Finally, the introduction of virtual simulation has reinforced my understanding that you cannot replace educated staff and faculty with cool technology. My students really need the debriefing with a knowledgeable person as opposed to the debriefing provided by the software."
5. What advice would you give to individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare simulation?
"Simulation is not just about the coolest new technology. It really needs to be paired with appropriate teaching methods and evidence-based research related to simulation-based learning. Becoming CHSE (Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator) certified would open doors into the education of healthcare simulation. However, there are also careers in healthcare simulation that don’t involve education. Pursing education in engineering, computer science, or data science could be very helpful if you want to be involved in designing healthcare simulations."
About VALT at Calvin University
Calvin University Nursing simulation is integrated throughout the curriculum. Nursing students participate with students from other disciplines (e.g., speech pathology, social work) in interdisciplinary simulations. Calvin University chose VALT video solutions to support and strengthen the hands-on learning experience for students. By working through the scenarios, learning to integrate their classroom knowledge with their assessment findings and nursing skills, better prepares students for nursing in the real world.
Jessica Manning DNP, RN, CNE, CHSE
Immersive Learning Coordinator, Purdue Global School of Nursing
Purdue Global
1. What inspired you to pursue a career in healthcare simulation?
"I was one of those who "fell into" healthcare simulation when new manikins arrived at our University. There were only a couple of us interested in unboxing the manikins and exploring their features and I was one of them. What has kept me interested is a passion for healthcare, education, and technology along with a desire to improve patient outcomes and safety."
2. How do you stay updated with the latest advancements and best practices in simulation technology and techniques?
"Like anything, staying up-to-date on the latest advancements and best practices in simulation is imperative to stay relevant and to ensure that I can help to enhance the experiences of those in simulation. To stay updated, I attend 1-2 simulation based conferences per year, present at conferences, and maintain membership in simulation based professional organizations. I also recently obtained my CHSE to further my professional development and expertise as it relates to best practices in simulation."
3. What aspects of your role as a healthcare simulation leader bring you the most satisfaction?
"The most satisfying aspect, as a healthcare simulation leader, is being able to train nurses in a realistic simulated environment to develop nurses who are ready for practice, ultimately contributing to the overall excellence of the nursing profession. ."
4. What have been your "aha" moments that have reshaped the way you approach simulations?
"Aha" moments, for me, really center around seeing students making connections within the simulation environment and seeing their "aha" moments. Those moments solidify the importance of simulation and how it contributes to student learning."
5. What advice would you give to individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare simulation?
"Do it!"
About VALT at Purdue Global
Purdue Global is Purdue’s online university. Purdue Global School of Nursing has prelicensure to doctorate students. Prelicensure Nursing students come onsite to one of Purdue Global’s Simulation Centers throughout the US to complete all immersive learning activities. With many simulation centers, it was essential to Purdue Global to have an audiovisual resource that was easy for all their staff to use and allowed for a standardized repeatable process in the way they operate their simulation centers. VALT video solutions checked all the boxes, providing an intuitive user interface combined with customizable options allowing for consistency across all their campuses.
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