Leading Through Interprofessional Education and Simulation
For years, NSU and NSU Health have raised the bar on health care in South Florida through interprofessional education and simulation. Now, NSU Health’s new Interprofessional Simulation Institute and the future NSU Health Interprofessional Simulation Complex (SimCom) will extend this quality to benefit NSU students, educators, researchers, and future health care providers—and share this unique asset with the health care community at large.
This philosophy and practice enriches learning, clinical training, research, and most notably, patient care. Through our exceptional simulation technologies and facilities, we teach health care professionals to interact with patients and collaborate as members of health care teams before actually practicing in a health care environment. These interprofessional interactions also extend to other NSU colleges, such as Law, Business, and Computing & Engineering, where working in collaboration with health care directly impacts the future of patient care.
We are enriching and enhancing our leadership role through an interprofessional simulation initiative consisting of:
- NSU Health’s Interprofessional Simulation Institute
- NSU Health’s future Interprofessional Simulation Complex (SimCom)
Practicing in an interprofessional team, with simulated experiences, is a much more robust and realistic way to prepare providers to communicate, collaborate, and advocate for better patient care.
-- HARRY K. MOON, M.D., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/COO/PRESIDENT-ELECT, NSU
The Institute: Connecting Experiences, Resources
NSU Health’s Interprofessional Simulation Institute works to amplify the effectiveness and enhance the delivery of simulation experiences at NSU and NSU Health. It oversees the administration and operations of SimCom, while also securing the connections and resources needed to bring best-practice simulation training and education to all NSU colleges and regional campuses.
The Institute coordinates with educators, students, staff, faculty, outside health care groups, technology vendors, and others in the community to schedule, coordinate, and conduct interprofessional learning opportunities. It also develops simulation standards and policies in support of improving patient care—the goal of NSU Health’s interprofessional simulation efforts.
Among its Administration and Operational Duties:
- Connecting resources to all campuses
- Aligning curriculum with best-practice standards and competencies
- Scheduling SimCom facility requests
- Curriculum mapping and faculty support
- Equipment operations and maintenance
The Institute’s ultimate goal is to construct a preeminent enterprise that improves patient outcomes and enhances patient safety through patient-focused training, innovative student-centered learning, research, and state of the art technology.
-- DAWN WAWERSIK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERPROFESSIONAL SIMULATION INSTITUTE
SimCom: A Bigger, Bolder Learning Facility
NSU Health’s Interprofessional Simulation Complex (SimCom) will house all campus simulation labs, technologies, and education under one roof. Slated to open in 2025, the Fort Lauderdale facility will be the hub for all health care-related simulation activities associated with NSU and NSU Health.
SimCom will improve the quality and volume of simulation experiences offered, with technologies in place to connect those at NSU’s regional campuses. To further support its mission of collaborative training to improve patient care, SimCom resources will also be available for use by groups outside the university.
SimCom Users Will Include:
- Students
- Faculty
- Researchers
- Providers and Clinicians
- Health Care Systems
- Technology Specialists
- Industry Partners
The building will be the principal component of NSU’s Academical Village. Easily accessible to the public, this new area of campus is strategically located near the university's health care colleges, NSU Health’s campus clinics, Center for Collaborative Research, and the HCA University Hospital.
In Fall 2022 it was announced that the former training facility of the Miami Dolphins would be the home of SimCom. But as plans progressed, that building could not accommodate SimCom’s growing square footage needs. Current plans are to repurpose the Dolphins building to much-needed office and classroom space.
The new, revised plans for SimCom will now include all dental clinics and simulation spaces, as well as the medical, nursing, health care sciences, and other health care-related simulation facilities and training areas. It will also house an advanced, human fresh-tissue laboratory.
Society’s health care needs evolve over time, which means that the way we train our health care professionals must also evolve. Health care leaders facing the challenges of tomorrow can’t do so with yesterday’s education, technology, and facilities.
-- GEORGE L. HANBURY II, PH.D., PRESIDENT/CEO, NSU
NSU Health’s SimCom Features
SimCom will be open to NSU students across all campuses, as well as health care practitioners, researchers, partners, and health care systems across South Florida.
Among its features:
- 3-D modeling/animation
- Holograms
- Fresh-tissue lab
- Operating rooms
- Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality
- Team-scenario venues
- Inpatient skills labs
- Outpatient exam rooms
Giving Opportunities
There’s never been a more critical or timely objective than to educate and deploy dynamic health care leaders. Consider a gift to NSU Health’s SimCom.
You can make a one-time gift or recurring gift pledge to sustain ongoing simulation research and training. Gifts may also support programming that enables high school students interested in health care, or other members of the community, the opportunity to experience hands-on simulation training.
With a minimum gift of $25,000 (which can be paid over multiple years), individuals or companies can establish an endowed fund to support the SimCom’s general operations, student scholarships, research projects, or outfit a space/area with the latest technology. Endowed funds can be named for the donor, his/her family or business, or in memory of a loved one.
Leaving a legacy gift is simple and, in most cases, does not impact a donor’s current financial situation. NSU accepts gifts of life insurance, retirement assets, and bequests. Advancement professionals work with donors (and their legal and financial advisers, when appropriate) to create a customized philanthropic plan.
Training Tomorrow's Medical Leaders
NSU Health Interprofessional Simulation and Education
Interprofessional Simulation Institute
3300 S. University Drive
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328-2004
Email: dwawersi@nova.edu
954-262-1639