Children’s Hospital Colorado’s healthcare simulation program is fully integrated across the system of care and positioned as a core strategy for strengthening safety, teamwork and clinical readiness. In 2024, the Center was awarded Society for Simulation in Healthcare recognition as a center of excellence in simulation teaching, education and systems integration. The program also served as a national convener by hosting and co-chairing the 2024 Society for Simulation in Healthcare SimOps national conference and hosting the 2023 regional Laerdal Medical Mini-Simulation Users Network conference. Team expertise is reinforced through specialty certifications, with staff now serving as site reviewers. Leaders also contribute to the field through roles with the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence Simulation Collaborative and the International Pediatric Simulation Symposium, and by serving as pediatric simulation experts and a beta test site for new simulation product development. Operationally, the center led complex readiness simulations with multiple hospital departments and the University of Colorado to test and refine workflows for pediatric trauma care. The program also supports a patient safety culture through regular in situ simulations with the codes and trauma programs, and by developing novel workflows for simulation medications and equipment to ensure safe, high-standard practice. Faculty development is expanding through master trainer programs in rapid cycle deliberate practice and a comprehensive simulation facilitator instructor course, while the hospital’s “Sim Wars” event was featured as a 2025 International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning podium presentation and highlighted in a HealthSimulation.com webinar.
