Certification in healthcare simulation is similar to other certifications and is the process to obtain, verify, and assess the qualifications of a practitioner. In accordance with the International Society for Quality in Healthcare, accreditation is a process “in which trained external peer reviewers evaluate a health care organization’s compliance with pre-established performance standards. This HealthySimulation.com article by Teresa Gore, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CHSE-A, FSSH, FAAN, will explore the purpose and benefits of official recognition as a qualified Healthcare Simulation Professional. After reading this article, learn more about other healthcare simulation certifications.
Society for Simulation in Healthcare
The Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), a not-for-profit organization, serves a global community of practice that enhances the quality of healthcare. The Mission of SSH is to: Serve our members to foster education, professional development, and the advancement of research and innovation; Promote the profession of healthcare simulation through standards and ethics; Champion healthcare simulation through advocacy, sharing, facilitation, and collaboration.
SSH offers multiple certifications and advanced certifications for healthcare simulation professionals. The vision of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare Certification Council is to foster excellence in healthcare simulation internationally through certification. The mission of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare Certification Council is to promote competence, recognition, and development of healthcare simulationists through standards and processes for certification within the global healthcare simulation community.
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Reasons to Become Certified in Clinical Simulation
There are multiple reasons and benefits for healthcare simulation professionals to achieve certification in the field of healthcare simulation. These include:
- Receive formal professional recognition of specialized knowledge, skills, abilities, and accomplishments in healthcare simulation education
- Confirm the commitment to continued professional development and lifelong learning
- Receive international recognition for professional accomplishments
- Demonstrate the skills and specialized knowledge to employers, practitioners and the public
- Improves healthcare simulation education through the identification of best practices and recognition of practice
- Improves healthcare simulation education through provision of standardization and a pool of knowledge of best practices
- Strengthens patient safety efforts through support of simulation modalities
- Provides external validation of individual educator knowledge, skills, and attitudes
- Strengthens organizational, community, and learner confidence in the quality of education
- Garners local support, resources, and commitment
- Fosters a feedback loop between education and practice
- Encourages performance improvement and knowledge expansion of the individual educator
- Programs with certified simulation professionals receive a competitive edge in the community, program offerings, and grant fund availability
- Recognizes expertise in simulation above and beyond domain expertise
Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator: CHSE
The Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) applicant should verify their eligibility to apply for CHSE prior to the submission of the application. All eligibility criteria must be met prior to application to become certified. Once certified, individuals must continue to meet the eligibility criteria in order to maintain their certified status. An individual may apply to take the exam to become certified if they demonstrate compliance with these criteria:
- Participate in healthcare simulation in an educational role
- Demonstrate focused simulation expertise with learners in undergraduate, graduate, allied health, or healthcare practitioners
- Possess a bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Document two years continued use of simulation in healthcare education, research, or administration
- Any candidate who does not have a Bachelor’s degree or higher may petition the Council for consideration of equivalency based on combined education and experience
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Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist: CHSOS
The Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) examination was developed in response to the international Practice Analysis of healthcare simulation operations conducted between July 2017 and May 2018. The results of this Practice Analysis are contained in this document, which describes the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are expected of individuals functioning in this role. The CHSOS is designed individuals who perform healthcare simulation in the operations specialist role without restriction to:
- Simulation modality
- Setting (locations where simulation takes place)
- Geographic location
- Learner population
- Function (e.g. IT, A/V, moulage)
- Profession
Certification Examination Blueprint
As candidates for the CHSOSand CHSE prepare to take the examination, they should consider how to use the examination blueprint. The certifications have application handbooks which include the high-level examination blueprint, which shows the domains and the percentage of the exam for each domain, and also the detailed examination blueprint that lists the KSAs within each domain. Every question on the examination must map back to at least one of the KSAs included in the detailed examination blueprint. Any items that cannot map back to at least one KSA will not be on the examination.
The KSAs listed represent the breadth of work in the healthcare simulation operations specialist or education role around the world. Individual job descriptions may have significant variance, both in breadth and in depth of function, as required by an individual simulation program. The KSAs, and thus the examinations, are written at the two-year competency level. The verb for each KSA has been carefully chosen with the use of published verbiage in Bloom’s Taxonomy. This should indicate to the candidate the expected level of function for each individual KSA, and thus the scope of knowledge that could be expected on the exam. Questions on the examinations are typically written at the application and/or analysis level. Very few questions are simple recall-level questions, such as definitions.
Advanced SSH Certification: CHSE-A and CHSOS-A
There are advanced certifications. All applicants for the advanced certification designation must have taken and passed the certification exam and meet additional requirements. The Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator-Advanced (CHSE-A) and Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS-A) certifications are portfolio-based for leaders in healthcare simulation. These certifications distinguish those who have proven themselves to be advanced educators and operations specialists in the field of healthcare simulation and serve as mentors and examples to others in the field. These certifications are portfolio-based, which demonstrate the professional’s commitment to the advancement of the profession in the simulation community. The individual’s contribution to advance healthcare simulation must reach outside their institution and demonstrate an impact in the healthcare simulation community.
