The International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL), a non-profit organization, holds their annual conference each year in June. Last week, the INACSL25 “Elevating the Simulation Experience” occurred from Thursday, June 19th, through Sunday, June 22nd, in Denver, Colorado. INACSL25 featured incredible speakers and nursing simulation presentation topics that provided actionable best practices for simulationists to help tackle challenges today and in the future. This year, INACSL hosted another record-breaking event with 1195 registered attendees from 18 countries. There were 597 first-time attendees, 40 international attendees. As a media partner, this article by HealthySimulation.com Content Manager and INACSL Past President Dr. Teresa Gore reviews some highlights of the pre-conferences and INACSL25 conference.
Pre-Conferences
On June 19, 2025, pre-conference sessions were held. Several of the sessions focused on AI in healthcare simulation. One of the morning sessions was SimGHOSTS Presents: Using AI to Design and Support Social Justice and Health Equity in IPE Simulations. This workshop aimed to help nursing educators use generative AI to design simulations to address social justice and health equity that engage learners in discovering diverse perspectives. Strategies for AI prompt writing were discussed to obtain quality output.
The OADN Simulation Committee presented an afternoon session: From Prebrief to Debrief: Using AI to Elevate Simulation Standards. This session provided an interactive workshop to apply techniques to integrate generative AI into nursing simulation practice to support the Core Four Standards. A generative AI toolkit was developed and provided to the participants.
Exhibit Hall and Sponsors
The exhibit hall ribbon-cutting officially started INACSL25. The exhibit hall had 80 vendor and affiliate partner booths. There are vendors and affiliated organizations that interact and present the most up-to-date information and technology to the attendees. The INACSL25 sponsors were:
- Silver Sponsor: Elevate Healthcare
- Bronze Sponsor: bodyswaps, Laerdal, Meta, Nasco, NurseHub, University of Central Florida College of Nursing
Opening Keynote
Amelia Rose Earhart is a modern-day adventurer and pilot who, inspired by her namesake Amelia Mary Earhart, achieved her goal of circumnavigating the globe in a single-engine aircraft along a 28,000-nautical-mile route in 2014. A sought-after speaker for leading organizations like Apple, Boeing, and American Express, Amelia is the author of Learn to Love the Turbulence, a guide to navigating life with agility and confidence by adopting a pilot’s mindset. Her story of perseverance and passion inspires audiences to take command of their own journeys. The four top takeaways from this session were:
- Reminded the audience that the ONLY plane that NEVER experiences turbulence is one that stays locked up in a hangar – we all experience turbulence and must navigate our “airspace”.
- Own your own airspace. Use 360-degree thinking to find your True North. This is the value point when you are at your best. Explore all directions in all headings. You can be the passenger or the pilot. Own your “Pilot in Command” role.
- Understand the forces of flight around you. This is a complicated balance between headwinds and tailwinds.
- Do not be a headwind. Be a tailwind.
View the HealthySimulation.com Webinar Gain Recognition with INACSL’s Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement Program to learn more!
Hayden Vanguard Lectureship: Catalyzing Nursing Innovation
Dan Weberg, PhD, MHI, BSN, RN, FAAN, issued a call to action for nursing to lead a technology-enabled future, one in which care and innovation create a better healthcare system. A significant gap exists in the nursing profession concerning innovation, knowledge, and skills. While nurses are inherently problem-solvers at the bedside, formalized education and opportunities to develop expertise in innovation processes, design thinking, and change management are often lacking. This deficit limits nurses’ ability to lead and participate effectively in developing and implementing new technologies, processes, and care models necessary for improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. Bridging this gap is crucial to empower nurses as innovators and fully leverage their frontline expertise to drive meaningful change. The four top takeaways are:
- Rule #1: You Do Not Need to be an “Innovator” to Lead “Innovation”
- Rule #2: Build Innovation Conditions and Capacity – diffusion colon to inspire, ideate, and impact
- Rule #3: Leaders are Deviation Amplifiers.
- These must be powered by the right people: Positive Deviance, Systems Thinking, Network Engineering, and Operations Mindset.
INACSL Media Center
In the Media Center, HealthySimulation.com hosted multiple media sessions with the INACSL Board and Committee Leaders. The first talk was with outgoing President Dr. Ashley Franklin, incoming President Penni Watts, and Immediate Past-President Desiree Diaz. All Sim Center interview recordings will be published in a separate article. Other media sessions included:
- Clinical Simulation in Nursing Journal – Lisa McKenna, Editor
- Advanced Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice – Marci Dial and Sharin Digankar
- Special Interest Groups and Regional Interest Groups – Esmira Yusufova and Linda DiClemente
- Let’s Talk SIM Podcast – Jasline Moreno, host
- INACSL Simulation Education Program (ISEP) – Melissa Serwe
- Women in Leadership – Melissa Lowther, Jacqueline McBride, and Erica Hinojosa
- Homegrown Solutions – Chassity Mays and Robyn MacSorley
- Best Practices Workshop – Evan Holtz
- Simulation Regulation Map – Christina Keller
- INACSL Research Fellowship – Amy Daniels
- INACSL Committees – Megan Dohm (Research Committee), Danett Cantey (IncluDE Committee), and Nicola Contrera (Membership Committee)
- International Community of Practice Committee – Eliana Escudero and Nadir Ayrad
- Endorsement Program – Jenny Roye and Rosemary Samia
- Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice Committee – Heiddy DiGregorio
- In-Kind Vendor Grant – Kelly Rossler
- Education Committee – Jessica Manning and Christy Heid
- Debra Spunt Grant – Angela Mehringer and Katie Vanderzwan
Closing Keynote Panel: From Current Practice to Tomorrow’s Possibilities: Advancing Simulation through AI
This session was moderated by Kellie Bryant, INACSL Board Member. The panelists included Laura Gonzalez, Matthew Charnetski, and Janice Palaganas. Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize simulation-based nursing education, yet its integration into curricula remains in its infancy. This dynamic and forward-thinking panel session will explore how AI—particularly generative tools—is transforming clinical education by enhancing simulation fidelity, enabling personalized learning, and supporting faculty development. The three top takeaways from this session were:
- We are not losing our jobs to AI. However, our jobs may be at risk to other people who do use AI.
- The future is unclear. We need to engage with faculty and staff for professional development opportunities early and often. This is essential for the ethical, efficient, and effective use of AI tools.
- Engagement with policymakers at the departmental, organizational, and governmental levels is crucial for the future use and adoption of AI.
View the new HealthySimulation.com Community Nursing Simulation Group to discuss this topic with your Global Healthcare Simulation peers!
Newly Updated Simulation Regulation Map
A SIM Center interview was conducted on the Simulation Regulation Map Updated May 29, 2025. During this update, Canada was included in the map. There are still gaps in the regulations for each state and province. If you have any information or updates about the simulation regulation for your area, please contact INACSL.
INACSL Endorsement Program
The INACSL Endorsement Program was implemented in 2022 for the INACSL Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice to recognize healthcare institutions and practices that have demonstrated excellence in the application of all four of the following simulation standards from the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice in their educational simulation programs: Prebriefing: Preparation and Briefing, Facilitation, Professional Integrity, and Debriefing. There are now 54 endorsed programs and 18 re-endorsed programs.
Award Winners
The 2025 INACSL Award Winners were announced at the conference, and a celebration reception was held to recognize their accomplishments. The award winners were:
- Academic Excellence Award: Fara Bowler
- Best Practice Innovator Excellence Award: Jaideep Herbert
- Service Excellence Award: Amanda Wilford
- Frontline Simulation Champion Excellence Award: Kimberly Workum
- Research Excellence Award: Nicole Harder
- Spirit of Simulation Leadership Excellence Award: Laura Klenke-Borgmann
- 2024 Research Article of the Year: Enhancing Psychological Safety in Advanced Practice Nursing Student Simulation Using an Innovative Visual Tool
- 2024 Non-Research Article of the Year: Combining storytelling and a scenario re-enactment of Mt. Everest expeditions to practice cognitive and social skills
More About INACSL
The International Nursing Association for Clinical and Simulation Learning (INACSL) is an association dedicated to advancing the science of healthcare simulation. With over 3,100 members worldwide, the organization’s mission is to be the global leader in the art and science of healthcare simulation through excellence in nursing education, practice, and research. INACSL’s goal is also to advance the science of nursing simulation by providing professional development, networking resources, and leadership in defining healthcare simulation standards of best practice.
INACSL contributes to the growth of the simulation community through the development of the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice, INACSL Simulation Education Program (ISEP), INACSL Endorsement Program, Cornerstones of Best Practice, Research Fellowships, a repository of simulation evaluation tools, and Clinical Simulation in Nursing journal.
