From childbirth and kidnapping all the way to medical emergencies and security breaches, the Froedtert & MCW Simulation Center uses real actors, real-life scenarios and innovative ideas to promote professional development and patient safety — all within a safe learning environment.
In the Froedtert & MCW Simulation Center, health care staff from all areas of care and levels of expertise — clinical and nonclinical — come to train and gain confidence in their ability to provide safe patient outcomes to the community they serve.
Mission Statement
The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Simulation Center enhances patient safety and high reliability by empowering health care professionals through innovative simulation-based learning. We cultivate teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and confidence — building a culture of excellence within the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network and throughout our community.
Vision Statement
The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Simulation Center aspires to be the region’s foremost leader in simulation excellence — transforming patient safety and quality care through immersive, innovative learning that empowers every clinician and team member within a culture of psychological safety.
Simulated Learning Overview
Simulation centers take the learning process out of the clinical realms of the inpatient room, operating room or emergency department, and into the safety of the simulation environment. High-fidelity simulators (manikins), task trainers or even actors, allow participants to make and learn from their mistakes in a safe environment without the potential to harm actual patients.
Simulation Improves Patient Care
Simulation-based training involves immersive scenarios for specific staff to practice difficult or new professional skills and team communication in situations that may be challenging. The simulations created in our Simulation Center are initiated through two pathways.
- A request process that is open to all Froedtert & MCW employees
- Collaborative partnership with the Quality and Patient Safety Department
This means the training built here reflects the real problems that arise in health care environments, providing the opportunity for staff to experience a “dress rehearsal” of these situations. After the scenario, trained facilitators lead a safe and open reflective debrief discussion on the experience for staff to share thoughts with one another. These conversations help support what is being done well and create opportunities for improvement. Each one of these trainings supports the Froedtert ThedaCare Guiding Principles, supporting positive patient outcomes and healthier staff.
- Integrity and respect
- Exceptional quality
- Radical transformation
- Meaningful partnerships
- Value creation
- Disciplined execution
Simulation Promotes Teamwork
There is an adage that says, “the teams that practice together well, perform well together,” and that truth is the foundation of simulation-based training. Team-based simulation experiences provide a space for health care staff to practice their professional roles and to review them in a safe, non-punitive setting so that they can learn from one another. This arms staff with the skills and understanding to better support each other in actual work environments and situations.
Team-based simulations have a core aim of improving teamwork and communication. The Joint Commission has issued multiple reports in the last two decades citing communication as the largest cause of sentinel events in hospitals. Using the Froedtert & MCW Simulation Center is one avenue by which we seek to be the positive change-leader in health care.
Simulation Learning to Decrease Health Care Costs
Imagine a world where doctors can practice skills in a safe, controlled environment before entering patients' rooms. Imagine a world where nurses can practice complex procedures and learn without patient risk. It is not fiction. This is how medical simulation occurs and can revolutionize health care by cutting hospital costs to prevent medical errors.
Studies show simulation can significantly reduce medical errors, leading to shorter patient stays and fewer readmissions. This translates to substantial cost savings for hospitals, to reallocate those resources to other patients in need. The benefits, however, can be intangible beyond the dollars. Medical simulation has hidden objectives of continuous learning and improved teamwork based on shared trust, which can empower the health care team to deliver the highest quality care and ultimately saving lives.
