Simulation User Network (SUN)

Building For Better Outcomes
September 12-14 | Houston, Texas

Registration is now open for the next Simulation User Network (SUN) Conference at the Royal Sonesta Houston Galleria, in Houston, TX.

The past two years prompted revolutionary change in how healthcare approaches education and training. Schools of higher education saw limitations in clinical time but were also forced to embrace new approaches like virtual learning. Hospitals experienced upheaval caused by frequent role changes, high turnover, and budgetary challenges. Pre-hospital care encountered much the same. All of this drove many institutions to focus on the moment, not on the future. Now is the time to come together and build for better outcomes.

Check out the full agenda, speaker line-up, pricing, hotel information and more...

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Meet our Keynote Speakers

Dr. Jennifer Arnold

M.D. - Pediatric Emergency Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Arnold is Board Certified in Neonatal Medicine and currently works as the Medical Director of the Simulation Center at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Neonatology involves caring for critically ill babies and their families. As an educator and researcher, Dr. Arnold’s passion is simulation education, patient safety, and research endeavors, which she has been working in more than 16 years. She was a NIH postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Safar Center for Resuscitative Medicine from July 2006-July 2007. Dr. Arnold has received funding for her simulation educational research through the Laerdal Foundation for Acute Medicine, Cullen Trust for Healthcare, Texas Children’s Hospital Educational Grants, Walmart-Sams Club, and MD Anderson Foundation among others. Currently, her areas of interest within simulation include use of simulation for evaluating new clinical spaces, team training, improving quality and patient safety, improving home care and skills for primary caregivers of children with medical complexities, and developing educational curricula for various departments throughout the hospital.

Dr. Kevin Ching

M.D. - Pediatric Emergency Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Ching is an Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College and an Attending in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and the Medical Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine New York Presbyterian Simulation Center. As Director, Dr. Ching oversees the development and implementation of multidisciplinary teaching programs in simulation for residents, faculty, and medical students. He is actively engaged in simulation research on the role of human factors in pediatric emergencies, procedural skills success and retention, and the effect of simulation on patient outcomes. In addition, Dr. Ching is the co-founder and chair of BASE Camp, an annual multi-institutional, multidisciplinary conference using simulation models to introduce, review, and practice teamwork, crisis resource management, and emergency resuscitation procedures. He has published articles examining simulation teaching models and lectures internationally in this area. Dr. Ching graduated from Lehigh University and received his medical degree from MCP/Hahnemann University (Drexel) College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, and his Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship at New York University-Bellevue, where he also served as an Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics. From 2007-2010, Dr. Ching was an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Emergency Simulation at Yale University.

Michelle C. Moulton

DNP, RN, PCCN-K, CHSE, CNE - Sr. Manager, Division for Innovation in Education Excellence National League for Nursing

Michelle C. Moulton is the Senior Manager for the Division for Innovation in Education Excellence at the National League for Nursing in Washington, DC. Michelle has over 10 years of teaching experience in the classroom, clinical, lab and simulation settings. Michelle’s specialty areas in nursing education include experiential teaching-learning strategies, curriculum integration, “teaching thinking” and debriefing. Additionally, Michelle provides local and national professional development for nursing faculty and healthcare interprofessionals related to developing feedback, debriefing and preceptor teaching skills. She is certified in healthcare simulation education and nursing education. Michelle’s clinical background is with acute care adults and in residential summer camp nursing. In 2009, she obtained a Master of Science with focus area in Health Services, Leadership and Management and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching in Nursing and Health Professions from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. At the same institution, she completed a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2019. Her doctoral work focused on implementing a simulation-based education program to improve acute care nurses’ response to rapid patient deterioration using situational awareness skills.

Dr. Kristina Thomas Dreifuerst

PH.D., RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN Associate Professor and Director, Ph.D. Program

As a pedagogical nurse scientist, Dr. Dreifuerst's program of research is focused on expertise in reflection and becoming a reflective practitioner and includes a) developing, using, and testing innovative teaching methods to improve prelicensure and graduate students’ clinical reasoning skills to be ready for practice, and b) investigating how faculty can best be prepared to use evidence-based methods including simulation and debriefing to enhance teaching and learning. Dr. Dreifuerst is a Certified Nurse Educator, Past President of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, and is affiliated with the National League for Nursing, Wisconsin Nurses Association, Midwest Nursing Research Society, International Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and Sigma Theta Tau International Society.

Need Help Getting Approval For Your Attendance?

Use the attached letter to explain more about the SUN conference. You can send the letter to your supervisor or approving staff member. The letter explains the benefits of attendance in general terms. You may wish to include any specific needs of your own to add to what we have included here.

Download Your Justification Letter

Virtual SUN: Make Your Clinical Time Simulation Time. Many States Approve!

Are you substituting simulation for clinical time? If you are concerned about constraints on clinical time for soon-to-be graduate nurses, join us on June 7 and learn how simulation can make a difference.

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Networking with peers & experts

The Simulation User Network (SUN) Conference draws over 300 user network members to each meeting. It serves as a platform for collaboration, innovation and simulation advancements that lead to improvements in education and healthcare delivery.

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