United States Department of Veterans Affairs
SimLEARN

About Us

SimLEARN About Us

On July 17, 2009, the Acting Under Secretary for Health authorized the establishment of a national simulation training and education program for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Dubbed the "Simulation Learning, Education and Research Network," or SimLEARN, the program is improving the quality of health care services for America's veterans through the application of simulation-based learning strategies to clinical workforce development. The program operations and management are aligned with the VHA Employee Education System (EES) in close collaboration with VHA's Office of Patient Care Services (PCS) and Office of Nursing Services (ONS).

While the use of simulation for healthcare training and education is not new to VHA, it has become critical for VHA to develop an integrated approach to better realize the maximum benefits of simulation for VHA staff and the Veterans they serve.

Objectives

  1. Establish a national simulation center (the SimLEARN National Center) focused on the use of technology that will enhance workforce training and outcomes of care.
  2. Establish the Resuscitation Education Initiative (REdI) as a national program for ensuring consistent, high-quality BLS/ACLS/ATLS training across the VHA system.
  3. Develop and oversee a VHA strategic plan for simulation process modeling, training, education and research.
  4. Provide operational policies, procedures, standards and guidelines on best practices for simulation activities.
  5. Collaborate with the Department of Defense, academic affiliates and other non-VHA entities to advance mutual interests in simulation.
  6. Collaborate with VHA's Office of Health Information and VA's Office of Information and Technology to define the business requirements for an IT infrastructure to support the business needs of the simulation program.
  7. Assist in determining specifications and best value choices for simulation equipment and processes.

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SimLEARN National Center

The SimLEARN National Center will be built on the campus of the new Orlando VA Medical Center, which is part of the exciting new "Medical City" campus at Lake Nona.

The Lake Nona development site includes other large clinical, education and research facilities. A variety of Federal simulation research offices are in close proximity at the University of Central Florida campus. This strategic placement facilitates enhanced opportunities for research in new simulation technologies and methods.

Pending construction of the Center in Lake Nona, the SimLEARN National Center is operating in leased space in southeast Orlando, and serves as the operational hub for coordination of all national VHA clinical simulation activities.

Activities of the SimLEARN National Center

  1. Conduct train-the-trainer simulation activities
  2. Develop and evaluate clinical simulation-based curricula
  3. Develop policies and procedures related to the use of standardized patient, mannequin, task trainer and virtual environment learning
  4. Developing patient cases and scenarios to support clinical simulation with a special focus on veteran-specific scenarios
  5. Disseminate information on best practices
  6. Conduct research in program effectiveness and emerging simulation technologies

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Advancing VHA Clinical Simulation Training - Fact Sheet

The SimLEARN fact sheet provides a brief look at the program, as well as an overview of the VHA program office partners supporting SimLEARN. Please click this link to download and/or print the SimLEARN fact sheet.

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REdI

REdI - VHA's Resuscitation Education Initiative

The Resuscitation Education Initiative (REdI) is a national program to standardize, document, track and monitor the provision of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) training throughout VHA. REdI is a business unit within the EES Simulation Learning Education and Research Network (SimLEARN). It will provide critical train-the-trainer clinical training support to the field's efforts to provide training to large numbers of medical center clinical and non-clinical employees.

REdI (Resuscitation Education Initiative) program page



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Contact Us

We'd like to hear from you.

Do you have a suggestion, question, or comment about your SimLEARN experience? Please take the time to share it with us. SimLEARN is committed to providing resources and support for those involved in simulation learning—your input is vital to making this happen.

General Inquiries

There is a wide spectrum of health care professionals and learners using simulation. And the goal of the SimLEARN website is to provide useful information for every segment of that spectrum. Your input will help. We value your comments, questions and suggestions, and we are eager to hear from you.

Technical Issues

If you experience any technical problems with the SimLEARN website, please contact the SimLEARN website webmaster.