The Sim Cafe~

IMSH - Haru Okuda and NY Program Interviews

January 30, 2023 Season 3 Episode 17
The Sim Cafe~
IMSH - Haru Okuda and NY Program Interviews
Show Notes Transcript

In this interview, Jarrod Jefferies and Deb Tauber interview Dr. Haru Okuda and Dr. Okuda discusses the strategic priorities for the Society of Simulation and Healthcare (SSH).  In the show's second part, we highlight the accomplishments of New York City Health and Hospitals. We talk to Dr. Michael Merguerdician, Dana Trottier, and Kimberly Campbell-Taylor.  They share their accreditation journey from SSH.  

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of anyone at innovative sim solutions or our sponsors.

Interact Solutions:

We'd like to thank Interact Solution for sponsoring this week's episode of The Sim Cafe.

Intro:

Welcome to The Sim Cafe, a podcast produced by the team at Innovative Sim Solutions, edited by Shelly Houser. Join our host, Deb Tauber, as she sits down with subject matter experts from across the globe to reimagine clinical education and the use of simulation. So pour yourself a cup of relaxation, sit back, tune in, and learn something new from The Sim Cafe.

Deb:

Welcome to another episode of The SIimCafe. And today we have Jerrod Jefferies and Dr. Haru Okuda. Thank you so much for being here, and thank you for everything that you've done so far for our society. You have made an amazing difference.

Dr. Okuda:

Well, thank you. I I'm happy to be here and appreciate that feedback.

Deb:

Why don't you tell us a little bit about the five strategic goals?

Dr. Okuda:

Sure, I'd be happy to. So, as background, the, the cipher simulation of healthcare has had, uh, strategic priority areas in the past, but, um, our last grouping sort of came to an end in 2020, and then obviously the pandemic hit, and we put a pause and where we were moving forward knowing that likely things aren't gonna look the same again when we came out on the other side of the pandemic. And so this past year, the board has been working really hard to strategize about what does the future of the society look like? Where can we make a true impact, and what are the other areas of support, the, the science needs? And in terms of research as well as our membership. So, I'm excited to announce that our board of directors approved a few days ago, our five strategic priority areas, and the first one is on advocacy. And I think in terms of, oh, simulation, we've done a really good job of building best practices, sharing best practices, and collaborative within our organization and within our broader tribe of healthcare simulation. But I think we've sort of struggled to do a good job, uh, of sharing and really bringing that all the way to the folks that can make a true impact in terms of hospitals, healthcare systems, governmental agencies, and a global impact. And so the first area, which is advocacy, we really wanna lean into in the coming five years. And advocacy starts from advocating for yourself, right? And that might be, you know, resonate with folks that are just new to simulation. I was talking to somebody that just got into simulation, first time attendee, um, he was a, a emtb, uh, now a simulation, uh, specialist. And, you know, over his next few years, he's gonna have to advocate for himself, his career, um, also for the resources that he's gonna need and where wherever he's at in a hospital or in a school. And then as he grows into this position, to be able to work with leadership within the hospital to say, Hey, I want to advocate for my patients, for my, the staff, the healthcare professionals. So that's one level of advocacy. And then you take on the other level is really legislative advocacy, right? So trying to, as an organization, making an impact in, you know, appropriations, some funding bills policies. And so I think we haven't done as much of that in the past, and we really want to get into that. And it, and we can't do it just by ourselves as a society. We need to, uh, come up with tools and education to, to empower our members to do that as well as it's relevant to them. And so, whether it's to their state, legislature, city, the, the, or federal, the more folks that are given the skills to do this, the better we'll go as far as society and as a profession. The second area is research and innovation.

Jerrod:

And so, could I pause you?

Dr. Okuda:

Sure.

Jerrod:

I wanna make sure that we're, we're unpacking each of those five, uh, appropriately and the detention that deserves. So with advocacy, what is the biggest challenge facing you there? One and two, how, as we, as a society, as you said, it extends beyond that, but how can we help you and help society and help push this initiative within that advocacy?

Dr. Okuda:

Yeah, so I, I think some of the, the obstacles that we've seen, which I've alluded to, is I think one is just we have a lot of passionate people within our organization, but they, they've never done this before, or they don't necessarily have the skills. Just because you're a great nurse or a physician or an educator doesn't mean you're an advocate automatically. Some people are natural, but we haven't given our members the tools to do this. I think that's one of the things I think people are passionate about it. After I shared the five areas, I've had multiple people come up and say, this is so timely, we need to do this. But, you know, they don't necessarily have the, the tools or the skills. So that's, I think, on the individual side. I think the other obstacle that I've seen is that, you know, I think we've done some good work in spreading educating folks or at least informing folks about simulation. If somebody's touring people at a hospital or a school, where do they go, oh, well, let's take'em to the sim center, right? If you wanna have a good news story in some city and the news or media comes, it's like, oh, let's go to the sim center. But we are brought out oftentimes because we're cool to look at, but oftentimes the people that come through don't even know what's going on in the sim center, right? And so I think we thought that was success, and that's only the beginning. And I think when you have those opportunities, we really need to then take advantage of those opportunities and not just say, okay, well thank you for coming, but we need, these are our next follow on steps. Like, we need more. We haven't done that as an organization where we have these opportunities. And so we really need to hold groups, um, and conversation accountable so that we can actually follow on. If people are like, oh, this is great. You're doing a great job, then let's take it to that next level. What does that mean? Are you gonna give us funding? Are you gonna give us, you know, a grant's opportunities to do that kind of work? So I think at a, as a broad level, you know, that opportunity, we've had lots of missed opportunities that we need to do better in. And at the individual level, having the tools and skills to, to do that,

Deb:

To do it with deliberate purpose.

Dr. Okuda:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Y ep. Y eah. Y eah. So, so the second part, uh, is research a nd innovation. As you know, we had two days of the research summit, incredibly successful, 300 folks attending. We've identified all these where we are currently in the state of, uh, research and simulation. And i t, i t, we got some really g reat, great work, but we also, through the two days identified that we still have a long way to go. And so that's part of our goals in the coming five years, is to help our members do the research and fund the research through our SSH fund f or t he philanthropy, and then also o n the innovation side to help our innovators and technologists build the tools needed working with industry to really transform in the coming future. So that's the second one. The third one is credentialing. So certifications a nd accreditation. And that's been a big area of focus, and we w anna make sure that it's accessible to a global community. And so that's t he third area that we're focusing on. U h, fourth area is education and learning. And so again, that's what we do, but we can do it better, and we can do it in a way that the current generation of learners or all generations of learners can be met, where they learn and how they learn best. And so really leaning into that. A nd the fifth area is really foundational to support all o f these other areas, which is about, um, ensuring sustainability and growth of our organization. So making sure we have the resources, making sure that we grow our organization a nd membership i n collaborations and partnerships. And so I think that is the final area that, um, is gonna sort of support all o f these other initiatives that we're doing.

Deb:

Thank you. Thank you. I can tell you that we had our council dinner last night, and we have had 30 new applicants for reviewers.

Dr. Okuda:

Wow. A nd v ery, that's amazing. For reviewers. F or reviewers. T hey i ncredible. T hey w ere incredible. They were tapped. Wow. We picked t hem from a mazing c ompeti centers. Amazing.

Deb:

We suggest, Hey, you think you might wanna be a reviewer?

Dr. Okuda:

Were there any international ones? Because again, as we w ere looking at our global piece, I went to o ur affiliates meeting and they s aid, look, you know, translation is not enough. We need folks that understand our culture. We need to know what you all are looking for from this English accreditation standard m eans we don't necessarily understand. Just because we can read it doesn't mean we understand it. And so having, uh, reviewers that are international a re gonna be really important as well. We do. Wonderful. Wonderful. That's exciting.

Deb:

I know that you're on a short time here, so we'll, we'll release you to the

Dr. Okuda:

<laugh>. I appreciate it. I appreciate well, wonderful to speak to you both, and I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you

Deb:

So much. Thank you for everything

Dr. Okuda:

That's my pleasure. Thank you.

Deb:

Happy simulating

Transition:

A big thank you to Dr. Okuda for leading the work this past year and sharing the board's strategic priorities for the upcoming future. Now we're going to speak with part of the team from New York City Health and Hospitals, and how they achieved their accreditation status and the process they went through.

Deb:

Welcome to another episode of The Sim Cafe. And today we are so fortunate to have an accredited program that just went through the process, be with us, and they are the program from New York City Health. Welcome, Michael. And I'm not even gonna try and say your last name.<laugh>. Go ahead.

Michael:

Meguerdichian.

Deb:

Thank you, Dana.

Dana:

Yeah, Dana Trottier here.

Deb:

Thank you.

Kimberly:

Hi. And I'm Kimberly Cambell-Taylor,

Deb:

Okay. So welcome. And once again, we're so excited to have you guys. Uh, I understand you said that Mary Kay Smith and Jared Young did your accreditation. So why don't you talk to me about the process, what it was like?

Michael:

So I think the process of, of doing the whole accreditation was one that was, that made us really introspective that we were able to, uh, better understand where we were kicking butt and then where we needed to really kind

Deb:

Of take, take names,

Michael:

<laugh>. Yeah. Yeah, take names. And to be fair, I had just come into the leadership role that I was taking on in February, and that's when we as a team, were confronted with this reaccreditation process, and our team really kind of grabbed the reins and, and navigated, and we were able to get all six elements of the, of the accreditation process, which was amazing.

Deb:

So you mean you got core teaching, research systems, assessment and fellowship? Yes. High five

All:

<laugh>.

Deb:

Good for you guys. I see why you're here. Yeah. We have the A team,<laugh>. Yeah. Wow. Great. Great.

Dana:

Well, and it was one of those things I started in, in May, and the first thing I was tasked with was to think about accreditation. And so it was really wonderful onboarding for me as well to actually appreciate what it is we are doing now, and then think about the vision that we want to hold with each other for the future. And really gave us an opportunity to collaborate with each other and think about like, this is what we're doing now, and can we continue to shift and, and change and improve our processing? So that was a really wonderful experience.

Kimberly:

Yes. As my role evolved, I actually had a new role at the simulation center, and that was director of Nursing Education. So this gave a great opportunity to provide that landscape of what that looks like on the system level and how to do some self-reflection, especially in some of the really detailed processes like assessment and evaluation and those core measures that are integral and vital to healthcare professionals.

Deb:

And, and I can tell you that, uh, assessment and research are, they're Yeah. They're hard to get<laugh>. Yeah. And, and I can tell you that, um, yeah, that, uh, hats off to you guys.<laugh>. Thank you. I think we felt that a little

Dana:

<laugh>. I think we certainly felt that in our time.

Michael:

Yep.

Deb:

Now what, um, what'd you guys feel like when it was over<laugh>? Did you feel like it had gone well?

Michael:

Um, I, I think we all knew the, we, our program is very much a family, and so we all arrived as a family, and you could tell throughout the entire time there was so much support. And, you know, we all came together and, and we were just celebrating our effort together. And so I think we thought it went well, but what was cool is that the accreditors asked us some questions that made us pause a bit and realize, hadn't thought about that. And those left us a little worried. We got a really nice review at the end. But with assessment, to be fair, that was the area where we were, I was a little nervous. I got a little sweaty<laugh>

Deb:

<laugh>. No, I, I'm sure if I was in that spot I would've been sweaty too. Yeah. But in, I, fortunately, I get to be on the other side,<laugh>,<laugh>. And I think what our goal as reviewers is to help you guys, we we're not gonna go, gotcha. We're gonna go, we have you, we have your back. How can we help you guys? Can we, yeah. How can we all raise, raise? Yeah.

Dana:

Well, and it really felt that way. Yeah. Right. Because even as Michael is sharing, when we were getting our review at the end, we were giving us some feedback about assessment, and we actually asked some more specific questions because what, what we did is we ended up taking some of their feedback into our interprofessional fellowship program and actually taking a deeper dive into the assessments that we shared during accreditation. So we actually used it as an opportunity to also show our fellows just how crucial accreditation is and how this feedback is helping us to meet a standard, and that we wanna help them learn that standard while also improving our processes that we're using every day. And so it's a really rich experience in that sense.

Deb:

And I think the other thing is that once you've gone through the accreditation process, y ou have set a standard. So when somebody comes into the simulation center and they don't w anna play by the rules, you can say, you know what? This is really the way that we need to do it because we've been accredited and we have to d emonst continually demonstrate that. Yeah,

Kimberly:

Absolutely. I think that's important because even now after accreditation, as we've think through processes, we're thinking about the accreditation of mine. So when we think about our assessment tools and our evaluation tools and how we engage, uh, staff and everything about accreditation provides that framework for how we move forward.

Deb:

Right. How long did it take you guys to prepare? What would you say<laugh>?

Michael:

Um, so right when I started, probably first week in February. And then what, what was it? Ju July we had to submit. So I would say kind of a slow ramp up from probably week two of, uh, being there to the last day. I actually, I intentionally took vacation before we had to submit like a week before, because that meant that we had another week of potential, like if we didn't do something right, that we could correct it. So, uh, but it took months. It, it, it took really like five months of concerted work and distributing that work and, and making sure that we we're hitting our mark.

Deb:

Now I'm gonna ask you guys probably a little bit more of a difficult question. I I hope it's not gonna throw you off too much. Did you have any people that didn't wanna participate and, and yeah,<laugh> and how, how did you, how were you guys able to help the, let's for, for, let's use the word, let's go ahead and use the word laggards. How did you help to get those laggards up, up, up to speed?

Kimberly:

You know, I would say Michael is, um, a great leader and in his role as a leader at the Simulation Center, he created this inclusive environment and built it into our system. We had accreditation meetings,<laugh>, so everyone had all hands on deck. And what was your role in the Simpson Center and how that played in your accreditation piece of the pie? Um, getting everyone in at that table, he definitely made it easier

Deb:

For you. And, and I can actually feel that right now in, in your presence, how you could, you know, it, it, you're not, um, a person that would intimidate anyone. You, you wanna, you know, you take the, how can we do this, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Speaker 6:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean to, I think the first thing that we actually did was to think about our mission, vision, and strategic plan. And, you know, I think when you're thinking about your organization, the why is really what matters. And so by starting there and having the conversation start there and be like, what's our five year plan? Um, that kind of set the stage for everybody to really get their juices flowing and then figure out like, what part am I gonna contribute to this? And how is, how is it gonna impact our program? And that's kind of set the stage for us to really get into the nitty gritty of what have we been doing? Where do we need to polish? Excellent. Excellent. Now, for programs that are considering going for accreditation, what would you like them to hear? Because you guys have been through the process, and are any of you, um, going to sign up to be reviewers now that you have accomplished this?

Dana:

I mean, I love the idea, right? Because it's, it feels like such a great way to give back as well to simulation as you're continuing to build the legacy of SIM and how it kind of like continues to unfold. I think it would be a great opportunity. Um, I think a piece of advice I would offer is, um, be proud, right? The work that you are doing is innovative in making change, and you have a group of people, the, the accreditors, the reviewers who are coming, who want to hear your stories. They want to know what you're doing. They want to know how your impacting patient care. And so put that front and center. And I think that's one way we got people involved, is we wanted people to share their sororities, right? Because that's how we learn from each other and make meaning from the experience,

Deb:

Right? It's such an honor to be a reviewer. I I just love the process going there and watching the, the teams.

Dana:

Yeah, when we felt that too, right? We were intentional on our review day. So we had some fellows on site with us and we were having them debrief us after each reading with the reviewers. So they were debriefing our staff as we were coming out of the room with the reviewers so that we could actually think about what did we do well in that process and what might we change next time? And think about any of the takeaways that we might want to continue to improve upon as we're continuing our journey of expanding our

Deb:

Program. And just hearing that I can see how that systems integration and using the fellows at the utmost level amazing. Amazing.

Michael:

Yeah, I, I would say two things. Uh, one, by having to go through the review process, it gives you an opportunity to write down everything you've done. And we're not good at that. Like we're kind of taking from journaling, you know, where you get to actually appreciate everything that you've accomplished and have the chance to look back. And it, it's kind of an amazing experience to be able to really take the time to put it down on paper, to have to present it to somebody. And I think to Dana's point, that's where some celebration needs to be had. The other thing is, and we hear it throughout our conference here, and a lot of conversations that we have with other sim people, we're all looking to grow in some way. And accreditation offers a voice from an international society to give a plug for you in areas where you might need more human resources. That's the one we specifically asked for. I was like, I want data people, I want, I want human resources to expand on this program. Can you put in the report because we know we need it. We've done our needs assessment. And so those two things together make it a really valuable process.

Deb:

Thank you.

Kimberly:

I'm also super excited about the idea of being reviewer. The thing that I think I treasured most about our reviewers is they did a great pre-brief. And in that pre-brief, they said, Hey guys, we know exactly what this feels like because our facilities also went through accreditation. So I think they kind of laid the groundwork for, wow, they know what it really feels like to be right.

Deb:

Absolutely. We really want programs to be successful. Now, if a program wanted to reach out to you guys that was considering going for accreditation, would you be willing to talk with them and maybe give them some of your, um, you know, pearls that you learned on the p ress?

Michael:

Of course. I, I really think that our program in particular, and I've been trying to share that around the conference too, we want to share, uh, that's the only way that we're gonna move the needle in healthcare in general. And we're lucky to have such a large patient vol like, uh, sorry, employee group. We have 44,000 people in our system. We have 12 faculty. And to be able to do sim in that environment lends itself to a lot of mistakes being made and a lot of opportunities to share. So if we can share and, and collaborate and connect with people, totally available.

Deb:

Excellent. Now, have you guys had anything that's been just something that really has been at the conference that you, you can speak to? I will never forget that anything happen so far, any presentations. I

Dana:

Mean, I, I'm gonna be like, I guess a little selfish with this answer and say that the, the president's fall when we actually all got to be together at a table, uh, away from the hospital and to then be recognized for our reaccreditation and then standing up with each other and just kind of recognizing like, okay, we've been successful and have achieved this. And then I would say the plenary from yesterday about chasing failure has really just had me thinking a lot. And I, I was sharing some of those pearls last night to some of my colleagues outside of sim and I was just like, this was something that I'm sitting with today and really kind of holding onto these ideas. So those have been some really memorable moments.

Deb:

I run after failure. I run after it. I've listened to his book twice. And just what a inspiration. Right? Very inspiration. Can't, yeah. Yeah. Anything you guys wanna ask me?

Dana:

I mean, I would ask you just cuz you have been a reviewer, um, and it seems like you're so fond of the process. What, what is, what is it that you might be looking for as you are thinking about SIM programs and their development? What do you see as the future for our program?

Deb:

Uh, I, I believe that we all need to just work together and con continually in, you know, when you talk about systems integration, we have to continue to use systems. Every single person in the organization has value, right? Every single person. And we need to make sure that we embrace that. It's, uh, my thing is kinda about trust, respect and appreciation. And when you have those things, those three things, your outcomes are gonna go out. Absolutely. Just gonna go off, right. Because we're all vulnerable.

Dana:

Yeah. I appreciate that perspective and thinking about even from a diversity perspective of getting different folks with different backgrounds and different experiences together. When you're sitting here right now talking with an ed doc, a drama therapist, and a nurse<laugh>, and we're coming together to create a SIM program and that's kind of a really exciting thing.

Deb:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much for being guests here. And now if you guys have your C H S E or any of your certifications, these uh, episodes of the SIM cafe can be used to keep up with continuing education. You just write down the name of the guests, you guys could write selves down, and then three things you learned. Great. Fabulous. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Thank you. And happy simulating!!!

Interact Solutions Tag:

We thank Interact solution for sponsoring this week's episode of The Sim Cafe.

Outro:

Thanks for joining us here at The Sim Cafe. We hope you enjoyed, connect with us at www.innovativesimsolutions.com and be sure to hit that like and subscribe button so you never miss an episode of The Sim Cafe.