UTC nursing students in the simulation environment
photo by Angela Foster/UTC
A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing program has reached a significant milestone in its journey toward accreditation.
The simulation program has received the designation of “endorsed” for the cornerstone standards of prebriefing, debriefing, facilitation and professional integrity from the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, a professional organization dedicated to advancing the science of health care simulation.
The INACSL Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement is for a period of three years through 2027.
“The ultimate goal is to be an accredited simulation center, and we have achieved the first step—which is endorsement,” School of Nursing Director and UTC Chief Health Affairs Officer Chris Smith said.
“We have to go through these steps, and when we achieve accreditation, it will be like winning the Olympics … we get the gold medal for accreditation.”
Ms. Smith explained that simulation is an educational strategy utilizing advanced technology—such as high-fidelity manikins, virtual reality and standardized patient actors—to mimic realistic clinical scenarios.
The School of Nursing has a safe hospital, a simulated operating room and primary care exam rooms set up for simulation.
“These simulations enable nursing students to practice and refine their clinical and decision-making skills in a safe, controlled environment without jeopardizing patient safety,” she said. “Through these exercises, students encounter a variety of medical situations—including emergencies, routine care and complex cases—that foster critical thinking, teamwork and technical proficiency.”
In INACSL’s notification letter of endorsement to UTC Simulation Committee Chair Rachel Nall, who directs simulation programming for nurse anesthesia students, the association praised the School of Nursing for “evidence of preparing, evaluating and improving simulation practice efficiently. There is evidence of a project plan to apply and communicate the standards. In addition, there was excellent evidence of curricular integration and monitoring of (simulation-based education) for continuous improvement.”
“This endorsement has given us some confidence that we’re doing a lot of great things,” said Ms. Nall, a UTC assistant professor since 2020.
“Different programs within the School of Nursing tend to work very independently—we have undergraduate programs; we have nurse practitioner programs that are engaging in simulation, acute care and family nurse practitioner; we have nurse anesthesia. So where we were doing things in silos, this gives us an overall picture.”
UTC Senior Lecturer Rosebelle Peters, the simulation program coordinator, has been a longtime proponent of program accreditation.
“I’m very passionate about hands-on learning, and the feedback that I get from students is always, ‘I wish we had more simulations. This was the best experience for this semester. I could not have learned this concept or the skills that we learned if we didn’t practice it today,’” said Ms. Peters, a member of the UTC faculty since 2012.
“Giving us that ribbon lets everyone know that we are committed to excellence through simulations and that we’re committed to developing practice-ready students.”