VHA SimLEARN
Awards presented to recipients of 2014 Under Secretary for Health’s Excellence Awards
(Far right) Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, VA Interim Under Secretary for Health, and Mr. Jose Riojas, VA Chief of Staff, were on hand to present the award to Janet Murphy, who serves as the network director for the VA Midwest Health Care Network in Minneapolis. (VA courtesy photo)
(Above left) Mary Holtschneider is the Healthcare Simulation Education Coordinator at the Durham VA Medical Center (VAMC) in North Carolina and was presented her award by Dr. Lygia Arcaro, SimLEARN nursing program director.
By Gerald Sonnenberg
EES Marketing and Communication
WASHINGTON, DC – Awards were recently presented to the recipients of the VA Under Secretary for Health's Awards for Excellence in Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research. The awards were established to recognize clinical leaders who have supported and advanced VHA’s strategic plan for clinical simulation.
The recipient of the Excellence in Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research Practice Award is Mary E. Holtschneider, RN-BC, BSN, MPA, NREMT-P, CPLP. Janet Murphy, BA, MBA, was awarded the Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research Executive Leadership Award.
Holtschneider is the Healthcare Simulation Education Coordinator at the Durham VA Medical Center (VAMC) in North Carolina and was presented her award by Dr. Lygia Arcaro, SimLEARN nursing program director.
Holtschneider’s work in simulation has led to improved learner competencies and proficiencies in the Durham VA and throughout other VA systems. In addition to collaborating with colleagues to develop and implement a stroke code process which has greatly improved and streamlined the care stroke patients receive at the Durham VAMC, she also contributed to VHA’s adoption and use of clinical simulation strategies by providing ongoing consultation to VISN 6 facilities regarding simulation implementation and code response team training programs. She has changed the culture of how these courses are taught, making them more interactive with online virtual learning modules and multiple simulations that involve personnel from various health care professions.
She is the VISN 6 Simulation Champion, the Champion of the Workgroup for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Code Blue, and is an American Heart Association faculty person for Basic and Advanced Cardiac Life Support classes. Holtschneider lectures to internal VA audiences, as well as externally in her work as an assistant clinical professor at the Duke University School of Nursing, the Duke Area Health Education Center, and the North Carolina Nurses Association.
“Receiving this award is a wonderful honor,” said Holtschneider. “I am thrilled to be part of the Durham VA Medical Center Simulation Program, and honored to serve with my outstanding simulation team members in Durham, as well as throughout VISN 6. I look forward to working with SimLEARN and others nationally to help move future simulation efforts forward and serve our nation’s VA staff and Veterans.”
Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, VA Interim Under Secretary for Health, and Mr. Jose Riojas, VA Chief of Staff, were on hand to present the award to Murphy, who serves as the network director for the VA Midwest Health Care Network in Minneapolis. She has championed clinical simulation in VISN 23 since 2008.
Murphy supported a unique and innovative clinical strategic initiative request which led to the provision of high-fidelity mannequins and clinical simulation instructor training to nine facilities within VISN 23. Her leadership led to the network becoming the VHA model for others searching to create a simulation system process.
Between 2012 and 2013, she supported the acquisition of simulation equipment and supplies for 14 locations in the VA Midwest Network area of operations. She also supported the creation of a VISN simulation program, including a simulation charter and VISN simulation program coordinator position. The program expanded in 2013, and simulation training initiatives were broadened at 14 VA facilities with 50 simulation specialists. Her leadership and drive led the Network to become the VHA model for others searching to create a simulation system process.
“In 2007, I co-sponsored a VISN 23 strategic initiative for VISN-wide simulation-based rapid response and crisis team training and development of a virtual team training module. Little did I know that the demand for clinical simulation training and equipment would grow dramatically, and I would be in a position to support that growth,” said Murphy. “I am proud that over 8,000 VISN 23 employees engaged in some form of clinical simulation training in FY2014, and I am gratified to have received this award. But credit really goes to all the facility leaders and clinical simulation coordinators in VISN 23 who supported a small idea, continued to advocate for resources and helped us grow a terrific program that is helping improve the quality and safety of care we provide to Veterans.”
Other nominees for the Excellence in Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research Practice Award
- Dr. David Adriansen – Minneapolis, MN, VAMC
- Michael Brin – Denver, CO, Eastern Colorado Denver VAMC
- Herbert Cooke – Hampton, VA, Hampton VAMC
- Dr. Kathleen Decker – Hampton, VA, Hampton VAMC
- Racquell Garrett – Houston, TX, Michael E. DeBakey VAMC
- Dr. Brian Kaufman – New York City, NY, New York Harbor VAMC
- Dr. Stephen Loyd – Mountain Home, TN, James H. Quillen VAMC
- Dr. Jutta Novalija – Milwaukee, WI, Clement Zablocki VAMC
- Dr. Yvett Petti – Battle Creek, MI, Battle Creek VAMC
- Dr. Rosalyn Scott – Dayton, OH, Dayton VAMC
- Kami Willett – Omaha, NE, Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System
Other nominees for the Clinical Simulation Training, Education and Research Executive Leadership Award
- Adam Walmus – Houston, TX, Michael E. DeBakey VAMC
To learn more about the VHA SimLEARN program, visit www.simlearn.va.gov.
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