Simulation isn’t just for educating and training individuals—it can expose system flaws, test solutions, and drive real improvements so providers in all fields of healthcare can deliver safer, better care. 

There is More to Simulation Than Education and Training

When most healthcare teams think about simulation, they picture education and training—practicing infection control, managing codes, onboarding new staff and so on. But what if simulation could be more than a teaching tool? What if it could actively improve the systems that make up patient care?  

Hospitals are complex, adaptive systems. Even in the hands of top-tier clinical talent, small breakdowns in workflow, handoffs, or the use of technology can result in patient harm. These breakdowns often remain hidden until it's too late—unless we design ways to test the system itself.

That’s where simulation, when integrated into Quality Improvement (QI) efforts, makes a big impact. 

Simulation as a Quality Improvement Multiplier

When simulation is used for training and education, it is being used to create experts. When it is used for QI, it is about optimizing the world in which experts can succeed. QI is about proactively designing safer, smarter systems. Simulation supports this by allowing healthcare teams to understand how care is actually delivered in their real environments and to identify what needs to change.

“Traditionally, simulation was about making teams and people better, more confident, and more adept in their practice. We now realize that health care is more than simply having a good team; it’s about working in an incredibly complex environment. In situ simulation enables us to recreate events in the actual space where people work. It’s become a testing ground for latent safety threats, things that lie beneath the surface that might not manifest themselves on a daily basis but that, under certain circumstances, impact how we deliver care.”² 

- Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak MSc (Med Ed), FRCPC, 
Emergency Physician and Trauma Team Leader at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada

From Risk Management to Co-Design

Healthcare leaders, risk managers, and simulation professionals are beginning to collaborate in new ways — using simulation not only to identify risk but also to co-create solutions with frontline staff and patients.

Dr. Brazil describes simulation as an opportunity for: “Problem-solving and co-design, channeling the perspectives of staff and patients into system improvement.”⁶

This collaborative approach is powerful in high-risk areas like:

By gathering different perspectives and simulating together, hospitals can build systems that reflect the realities of care delivery—not just policies on paper.

Start Small, Think Big—Then Reach Out To Us

Ready to expand your simulation program beyond training?

Here are a few first steps:

• ✓Identify a recurring safety issue—a delay, a near miss, or a breakdown in teamwork
• ✓Use in situ simulation (simulation in your actual care environment) to observe and understand how the issue occurs in real-time
• ✓Involve stakeholders from multiple departments to co-design solutions
• ✓Repeat the simulation after changes to test and embed improvements
• ✓Once you’re ready…contact us to learn how you can formalize your approach using QI principles and tools.