August 7, 2023

Texas Children’s Hospital North Austin is another step closer to expanding our top-ranked culture of care and clinical excellence. The team recently conducted its first simulation training, a Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) course, in their new Simulation Center – featuring a high-fidelity newborn manikin aptly named “Sim-antha.”

Drawing from the expertise of simulation specialists and a full scope of resources, Texas Children’s Simulation Center (based in the Medical Center) has developed a guided process to train and educate health care professionals through clinical simulation and debriefing. They utilize a combination of innovative technologies and medical equipment used in clinical areas to simulate as real of an environment as possible, such as ventilators, crash carts, defibrillators, ECMO circuits, etc.

The need for immersive hands-on training in Austin is more important than ever as hiring ramps up, and because the hospital is not ready for staff yet, establishing a simulation center marks a critical step in the journey to open North Austin Campus. Experts from Houston traveled to Specialty Care (MoPac) in February to help the team set up two simulation theaters and a control center where trainers can watch simulations through one-way glass and control the manikins and monitors with tablets.

“The success of our inaugural NRP course is a testament to the positive partnership between Houston and Austin,” said Assistant Clinical Director Michele Boettiger. “Simulation is a vital part of safe patient care among a multidisciplinary team, and Texas Children’s will continue to provide top-notch simulation opportunities to Austin team members during the onboarding experience and beyond.”

This includes training for PALS certification, PCAs and patient sitters, trauma staff and more. Click here to learn more about the Simulation Center at Texas Children’s.

November 23, 2021

Simulation Centers play a vital role in the quality and safety of care delivered to patients. To be accredited takes discipline, excellence and leadership.

The Texas Children’s Simulation Center is succeeding in all areas and recently received full accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) across the following standards: core standards, teaching and education, research and system integration.

Our Center is certainly in rarefied air. The SSH has been accrediting simulation centers since 2010 and we are only the 220th accredited center in the nation, 13th in Texas and first in the Texas Medical Center!

“I’m so proud of our team for this achievement and thank all involved in making this a reality,” said Tarra Kerr, assistant vice president of Quality. “This would not have been possible without the outstanding leadership and passion Dr. Cara Doughty and Royanne Lichliter bring to work every day.”

In addition to the official accreditation, the team received high praise from the surveyors citing multiple areas of excellence.

Key observations included:

  • Team collegiality, communication and respect
  • Organizational and leadership support for simulation activities
  • High integration of simulation with quality and safety
  • Support for unit based space to perform “In Situ” simulations
  • Team support of the organizational and departmental mission to improve quality and safety
  • Strong partnerships between simulation center staff, unit based simulation instructors and associate medical directors

Congratulations to the Simulation Center!

Pictured above are the Simulation Education Specialists, the Medical Director of Simulation and the Assistant Director of Simulation. This is just a small part of the team that made this happen. This accreditation would not have been possible without the entire Quality Education and Simulation Team.

February 16, 2016

21716Jeopardy640Texas Children’s Hospital – specifically the Pediatric Simulation Center – was recently featured on the famous television quiz show Jeopardy! This is the first time in almost a decade the show highlighted something in the Houston area. Read a first-person account from Jeopardy! Producer Brett Schneider to find out how the show made its way back to Houston.

There’s always a story behind how we choose locations to record Jeopardy! video clues and the Texas Children’s Hospital category, which originally aired on January 22, with clues presented by Texas Children’s Pediatric Simulation Center Director Dr. Jennifer Arnold, is no exception.

It was July of 2015 and, as Jeopardy! had a new affiliate in Houston (ABC-13), our Promotions Department felt that a visit was long overdue. The Jeopardy! Clue Crew had last recorded clues in and around Houston (including Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston) back in September of 2002. We would love to have returned sooner, but having shot clues in every state, more than 300 cities and in 48 countries, our dance card had been rather full.

While looking into local events and attractions, our interest was piqued by Texas Children’s Hospital Pediatric Simulation Center. One of the largest in the nation, the center provides hands-on pediatric and obstetric simulation training in a realistic environment with the aim of improving patient safety and care.

In researching the Simulation Center – which offers the latest in cutting-edge research and training and features the use of high-tech mannequins as patients – we were impressed by the online videos of Dr. Jennifer Arnold, Neonatologist and the Center’s Medical Director.

Further investigation revealed that this same Dr. Arnold was the star of TLC’s “The Little Couple.” Given her expertise, the complexity of our clues and Dr. Arnold’s familiarity with being on camera, we invited her to present these “simulation clues” herself – a responsibility that would usually be assigned to Alex Trebek and/or the Clue Crew.

Dr. Arnold was not only agreeable to this, but the production behind “The Little Couple” asked if they might record footage for their own program. This was an unusual request, but the producers of “The Little Couple” assured us that they wouldn’t record, let alone broadcast, any of our actual “game material” prior to our own airdate.

Our clues were penned, approved by Dr. Arnold, and in September of 2015, a Jeopardy! crew descended upon Houston where we met at Texas Children’s Hospital with Dr. Arnold, her simulation team and the producers and crew behind “The Little Couple.”

It was a surreal experience for the Jeopardy! crew; being shot shooting clues, but everything went smoothly and Dr. Arnold proved as capable on camera as she is accomplished at her job.

The folks at “The Little Couple” also seemed pleased with what footage they walked away with and featured it on their February 2 show, giving viewers a double dose of Jeopardy! and Dr. Arnold.