About the Center

It’s one thing to read about asthma in a textbook and quite another to treat someone who is frightened and confused. We’re helping students bridge that gap, from the very first month they arrive here.

Annie Chan ’15 NRS

The Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center at Columbia University School of Nursing is a two-story, 16,000-square-foot facility designed to enhance nursing education by simulating clinical practice.

Mission: To develop, deliver, and evaluate best practices in simulation education that will allow our stakeholders (students, health care professionals, and our community) to advance health care education, improve patient safety, and impact global health.

Vision: To become a regional and nationally recognized simulation center that promotes patient safety through the use of simulation education, training, and research.

Learning Through Simulation

The 14-room, two-story, 16,000 square foot center is equipped to recreate a variety of authentic clinical settings, including:

• 10 patient examination rooms
• Two inpatient hospital rooms
• Labor and delivery suite
• Operating room
• Interview rooms

Every room is furnished with the same medical equipment and furnishings found in the clinical environment. Students are able to practice documentation using laptops found in each room using an electronic medical record system. Each room has video recording capabilities that provide students with the opportunity to learn from watching their own performance during debriefing with faculty.

Preparing Nurses to Deal With Real-World Issues

The simulation center’s main purpose is to promote patient safety and prepare students for real-world practice in an ever-changing, complex health care system. Through simulation, students learn to think critically in complex situations, communicate effectively with patients and health care teams, and manage rapidly changing situations in real-time—using manikins or actors specifically trained to play the role of a patient.

Since 2021, the Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center has been accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in the area of Teaching/Education.