Outputs
ANPD SimWars: An Interprofessional Team Effort
August 17, 2022 — Mary E. Holtschneider, MEd, MPA, BSN, RN, NPDA-BC, NREMT-P, CPTD
SimWars is a national simulation competition for emergency medicine residents. It is a simulation-based competition between teams of clinical providers that compete in various aspects of patient care in front of an audience. The Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD), which serves as the professional association for Nursing Professional Development (NPD) practitioners adapted its own version of SimWars after simulation educators, both in academia and in clinical practice settings, identified the need for ongoing debriefing skills development as simulation modalities continue to expand. In 2021 and 2022 they partnered with both iSimulate and the Durham, North Carolina VA Health Care System Simulation Program to create its own SimWars competition for members to further develop and demonstrate their debriefing skills.
ANPD SimWars requires significant planning and implementation through an interprofessional team effort to provide the optimal experience for contestants. The Durham VA Health Care System served as the host site for filming the SimWars scenarios, using Chris Kroboth (Clinical Education Manager for iSimulate), Jennifer Bodine (NPD Program Manager for ANPD), and Mary Holtschneider (Co-Director for the Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Clinical Simulation at the Durham VA) as the interprofessional team. Jason Chandrapal and Norma Davis, Durham’s Interprofessional Advanced Fellows in Clinical Simulation, played the roles of simulation facilitator and standardized patient, respectively.
Chris Kroboth served in the role of a new charge nurse at a free-standing Emergency Department, along with Mary Holtschneider, who acted in the role of a seasoned nurse. Jennifer Bodine’s character was a remote nurse practitioner engaged in telehealth patient management. The scenarios focused on teamwork, communication and leadership breakdowns, and the questions contestants were instructed to focus on when debriefing team members. The interprofessional team faced many challenges in their ability to communicate effectively and work together as a cohesive team, which provided many opportunities for the contestants to engage in a targeted and relevant debriefing.
After the group developed the scenarios, rehearsed their roles, and filmed using iSimulate technology, ANPD offered 15 slots for members to sign up for the SimWars competition. During fall 2021, each of the 15 contestants logged into a Zoom meeting to debrief the three interprofessional team members, each of whom remained in their roles. Two expert judges, Marie Gilbert (Director, Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing at California State University, Fresno) and Elizabeth Horsley (Director of Simulation at the Brooklyn Hospital Center), rated each contestant using the Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare (DASH) tool.
The top five contestants were invited to the finals, held in March 2022 at the in-person ANPD Convention in San Antonio, TX, where they each debriefed the interprofessional team in front of a live audience and the judges. Rachel Kelter (Director of Nursing Professional Development at Indiana University Health Indianapolis Suburban Region) served as a third judge for the live final event, as she was the winner of the virtual SimWars in 2021. She shared, “It was such an honor to be one of the judges for the 2022 SimWars competition as the previous 2021 winner!”
In the true spirit of simulation, the organizing team debriefed on the process and shared reflections. Jason Chandrapal noted that, “ANPD SimWars was a creative, innovative, and fun way to assess simulation educators,” while Norma Davis added, “Participating in ANPD SimWars allowed me to explore patient safety and health professions through simulation. SimWars put an emphasis on how important the strength of interprofessional partnerships is in a healthcare setting.”
Marie Gilbert reflected, “The collaboration and teamwork required to plan and execute SimWars was awesome and learning with and from my SimWars colleagues and participants has been a great experience!” The scenario’s interprofessional team of Chris Kroboth, Jennifer Bodine, and Mary Holtschneider agreed that the contestants did a great job and wished them each continued success as they further develop their debriefing skills.
Congratulations to Linda Taylor from the Palo Alto VA as the 2022 ANPD SimWars winner!
Mary E. Holtschneider, MEd, MPA, BSN, RN, NPDA-BC, NREMT-P, CPTD
Co-Director Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Clinical Simulation
Mary E. Holtschneider has a wide variety of experience in healthcare education. She currently serves as an Advanced Nursing Professional Development Specialist and Simulation Education Coordinator at the Durham, North Carolina Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. She co-directs the Durham VA Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Clinical Simulation, a yearlong educational program designed to prepare individuals to become simulation leaders. She is the recipient of the 2014 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health’s Excellence in Clinical Simulation, Training, Education and Research Practice Award. Ms. Holtschneider is also Nursing Program Manager for Duke Area Health Education Center (AHEC), part of the NC statewide AHEC system. Over the past twenty years, she has also served as the Heart Center Clinical Nurse Educator for Duke University Health System, the Director of the Duke University School of Nursing Simulation Center, and the Director of Practice and Education for her state nurses association. She has been certified in NPD since 2005 and is an avid supporter of nursing certification. Ms. Holtschneider serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development (JNPD) and co-edits the bimonthly column on Interprofessional Learning Environments (previously titled Simulation), where she explores various topics related to interprofessional education and collaboration. She served on the ANPD Scope and Standards workgroup in 2015, co-authored the Simulation chapter for the 5th edition of Core Curriculum for Nurses in Professional Development, and most recently served on the Advanced NPD Certification Steering Task Force. In 2019, Ms. Holtschneider was the recipient of the ANPD Leader Award, and was also recognized as one of the Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina. She speaks regularly on nursing, leadership, mindfulness, interprofessional education, simulation modalities, simulation faculty development, simulation debriefing techniques, and other related topics.