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NYC Health + Hospitals Becomes First Program to Receive Simulation Accreditation in All Areas Evaluated by the International Society for Simulation in Healthcare
Oct 06, 2020
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that its Simulation Center has become the first program globally to receive accreditation by the International Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) in all five areas evaluated, including its Simulation Fellowship. These areas include assessment, research, teaching/education, systems integration, and the fellowship program. NYC Health + Hospitals’ Simulation Fellowship is only one of two programs internationally to receive this distinction, and the only simulation program to be accredited in all five areas. The Simulation Fellowship aims to develop trained simulation educators who can continue to deliver education on a local level throughout the health system. The fellowship program is one component of the City’s public health system’s Simulation Center, which provides care teams the opportunity to participate in both unit-based simulations and simulation courses that incorporate realistic, high-fidelity simulation training to address high-stakes/low-frequency clinical events. The purpose of these ongoing simulations is to continue to enhance life-saving clinical skills and communication within healthcare teams, and to improve the safety and quality of care delivered by the health system. SSH is an international non-profit organization that seeks to improve performance and reduce errors in patient care through the use of simulation training. The distinction by SSH builds on NYC Health + Hospitals’ ongoing expansion of its simulation capacity system-wide.
“NYC Health + Hospitals is immensely proud of our Simulation Fellowship program’s newest accreditation, further emphasizing our system’s commitment to quality and safety,” said Chief Medical Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals Machelle Allen, MD. “We are grateful for those who raise their hand to participate in the fellowship program, in addition to carrying out their ongoing patient responsibilities. I am constantly in awe of our employee’s passion and commitment, not just to their vocation, but especially to their patients.”
“This is an incredible distinction only made possible through the dedication of our employees who are in constant pursuit to become better at the life-saving work they do, but who are also invested in making sure their colleagues have the opportunity to hone and perfect these skills,” said Assistant Vice President of Medical & Professional Affairs at NYC Health + Hospitals Katie Walker. “We look forward to continuing to grow not just our fellowship program, but also expanding our Simulation Center, bringing critical education and practice to further improve our already high-quality care.”
The City’s public health system’s Simulation Center opened in 2010 and is headquartered at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, with satellite simulation centers at Elmhurst, Kings County, Harlem, Lincoln, and Correctional Health. Clinical care teams from every discipline across the system’s facilities participate in ongoing trainings that recreate traumas and life-threatening complications. Examples of simulations conducted include airway, cardiac, and pediatric emergencies, obstetrical emergencies, and surgical complications. All simulations are led by Simulation Educators who immerse teams in realistic clinical scenarios. After the simulation, teams participate in a debrief to review the scenario and clinical responses, and identify areas for improvement. All simulations conducted by NYC Health + Hospitals utilize specially-designed, high-tech, full-body mannequin in a variety of skin tones, underscoring the system’s priority of addressing and dismantling implicit bias in patient care.
The Simulation Fellowship program at NYC Health + Hospitals, which launched in 2012, runs from July 1 to June 30, and accepts 12 fellows per year from various disciplines and departments throughout the public health system. Applicants must be full-time employees of the health system, and can be non-clinical personnel, like patient safety officers and creative arts therapists, for example. As part of the program, fellows are required to participate in a number of simulations, as well as develop and implement simulation courses, and develop research agendas, among other responsibilities. Each fellow is also required to complete a capstone project aimed at addressing a topic within their individual hospital or unit. Capstones are also developed to address one or more of five strategic pillars: quality and outcomes, care experience, access to care, financial stability, and culture of safety.
NYC Health + Hospitals continues to expand access to simulation training system-wide. In September 2020, the system announced that it was outfitting six of its 11 hospitals with OB simulation labs to further help reduce maternal deaths and life-threatening complications during child birth. Through the new labs across the city, OB care teams can more easily participate in simulations more frequently.
The Simulation Fellowship accreditation by SSH will be granted through 2022.