By Minta Ferguson
The demand for highly skilled and adaptable nurses is at an all-time high. Educational institutions can leverage emerging trends in simulation-center design to meet the high demand for healthcare professionals, build a competitive nursing program and better prepare their students for the workforce.
“Simulation center designs that enable instructors to replicate complex medical scenarios are critical to successful learning outcomes,” said Leslie Ravan, a certified healthcare simulation educator and Clemson University senior lecturer.
Must-Have Simulation Technology
The complexity of simulation-center design boils down to how realistic a setting can be made to feel. However, design teams often encounter additional challenges—including coordinating the necessary utilities, designing mock patient rooms that optimize flow, financial challenges and procuring technology—that will stand the test of time in a rapidly evolving field.
“There also needs to be a clear delineation of required spaces, including separate control and debriefing rooms, to maintain the simulation’s integrity, separate students from the simulation operator, and enhance realism,” Ravan said.
The most advanced technologies and design interventions currently being integrated into nursing simulation centers include:
1. Environmental Replication and Olfactory Elements
Whether there’s a handwashing sink at the entrance of a patient room or a couch for family and visitors, the more realistic a simulation setting is designed, the more immersive the experience will feel. Some studies suggest that educators should consider visual and olfactory elements, such as hospital lighting, beeping monitors and exposure to strong odors, to reinforce simulator validity.
2. High-Fidelity Mannequins
High-fidelity mannequins such as Laerdal’s SimMan 3G PLUS or CAE Healthcare’s Athena can mimic physiological responses like breathing, heart rate, sweating, and even speech. These mannequins can simulate a wide range of conditions, from trauma to chronic diseases. Many advanced mannequins are wireless, allowing for mobile and remote-controlled operations. They can also be integrated with software that tracks real-time performance metrics, providing valuable student assessment data.
3. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
VR platforms like Anatomage Table, SimX or Oxford Medical Simulation allow students to interact with virtual patients and environments, creating immersive clinical experiences. This is especially useful for scenarios that are too dangerous or complex to simulate with physical mannequins.
AR devices, including head-mounted displays, can project holograms of patients, organs or procedures, allowing students to visualize anatomy or clinical interventions in 3D while interacting with real-world environments.
“VR and AR simulations can be more cost-effective than physical equipment or multiple mannequin setups, but it’s important to consider that not all virtual simulations are board-recognized,” said Ravan. “While VR and AR may support a specific learning objective, students won’t necessarily earn clinical hours.”
Another way to utilize augmented reality is by projecting bespoke examination or operating room designs onto a space. This allows programs to optimize limited space by creating a flexible setting rather than designing something permanent. It’s important to note that VR and AR require expansive data storage and extensive software support.
4. Haptic Feedback Devices
Haptic devices, such as Gaumard’s Suctioning Simulator or 3D Systems’ Simbionix, provide tactile feedback when students perform intubation, injections or catheter insertion. These tools allow learners to feel the physical resistance of tissues or organs, enhancing their technical skills. They’re often used for practicing delicate procedures such as suturing or ultrasound-guided needle insertion and offer a more realistic experience than traditional simulation.
5. Telemedicine Simulation
Telemedicine has become a valuable healthcare component. Careful consideration of the correct audio-visual system can enable students to deliver care via video conferencing as they do in modern healthcare facilities, particularly rural hospitals. Simulation centers and teaching hospitals can use telemedicine platforms to train students on remote diagnosis, monitoring and treatment.
6. Wearable Technology and Biometric Sensors
Devices such as tactical triage wearables simulate physiological parameters, including heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels, that change in response to student interventions, giving instructors real-time performance feedback. Meanwhile, biometric sensors can track student stress levels, heart rate or physical responses during simulations. This data helps instructors gauge their students’ emotional and physical responses to stressful clinical situations.
7. 3D Printing
3D printing technology allows centers to create customized anatomical models for specific training needs, such as rare pathologies or unique patient anatomies. Students can practice procedures on these realistic, patient-specific models. Organ or tissue models can be used to practice surgery, enhancing both precision and familiarity with complex procedures.
8. Simulation Management Software
Software platforms such as SimCapture or EMS SimulationIQmanage and record simulation activities, track student progress and provide data analytics. These systems integrate with mannequins and other technologies, creating a centralized database for evaluation and feedback. Advanced software can even allow the simultaneous management of multiple simulations across different locations, enabling the coordination of larger-scale or remote simulation scenarios.
9. Mobile Simulation Units
Mobile simulation labs equipped with high-fidelity mannequins, VR systems and telemedicine tools can bring advanced simulation experiences to remote or underserved areas. This expands access to high-quality simulation training for nursing students in rural or smaller institutions.
10. Accommodations for Patient Actors
Patient actors should have separate reception, waiting, and changing rooms to prevent interactions with students prior to the start of a simulation.
Simulation best practices
While educators are increasingly integrating technological innovations to improve clinical simulation training and meet graduate nursing accreditation requirements, they are intended to supplement best practices, not replace them.
The Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning establish healthcare simulation best practices that emphasize the importance of setting clear, measurable learning objectives aligning with curriculum goals.
“Instructors should be well-trained in both the technical and facilitation aspects of simulation to ensure effective learning,” Ravan said. “After each session, educators must offer structured debriefings to help students reflect on their experiences, identify areas for improvement, and receive objective assessments using rubrics or data.”
Additionally, team-based simulations involving multiple healthcare professionals foster interprofessional collaboration, reflecting real-world practice. Scenarios should also address cultural and ethical issues to promote sensitivity toward diverse patient populations and challenge students with ethical dilemmas, helping them build strong decision-making skills.
A great program framework incorporates best practices backed by the latest nursing simulation research, continuously assesses the simulation’s efficacy and adjusts scenarios based on student feedback. Building on that framework by offering students access to industry-standard healthcare technology elevates simulation-based learning.
Educational Settings to Model
In Greenwood, S.C., Piedmont Technical College’s 30-year-old Health Sciences Building is currently undergoing renovation and expansion. The school engaged McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture to renovate 24,000 square feet of existing space and to construct a new two-story, 12,100-square-foot structure that will include a state-of-the-art simulation center and consolidate all PTC’s health science programs into one building, improving interdisciplinary collaboration and better leveraging space across programs.
The center comprises 12 rooms with 12 mannequin simulators. In the simulation center, students will experience hands-on training on multiple scenarios, including cardiopulmonary arrest and arrhythmia, neonatal resuscitation and newborn assessment, intensive care cases, medical-surgical cases, delivery scenarios and pediatric cases. In standardized patient rooms and procedure rooms, students will engage with patient actors and simulation mannequins to develop diagnoses, plan treatment and document associated clinical notes.
Technological advancements in education go beyond patient simulation centers. Universities nationwide are investing in technology that better prepares nursing students for the healthcare field. For example, Greenville Technical College recently unveiled its Prisma Health Center for Health and Life Sciences, a three-story, 137,000-square-foot facility with 36 labs and classrooms and the same level of equipment found in any leading healthcare system. Funded by a $1.5 million gift from Prisma Health, the center prepares 500-600 health science graduates each year.
McMillan Pazdan Smith’s design includes an Anatomage 3D table for virtual dissection and medical imaging suites with ultrasound and radiological technology. It also features a think tank room with lounge seating, a touchscreen wall, and glass whiteboards designed for brainstorming and planning. The center even includes a public obstetrics ultrasound clinic, supplementing classroom teaching with real-life experience.
“Simulation centers enhance nursing education and offer institutions significant value,” Ravan said. “In my experience, Gen Z students favor educational institutions where they have access to the technology they’ll be using in the medical field.”
Selecting the right design and technology for a program can improve enrollment, heighten pedagogical realism, and provide student nurses with skills critical to modern healthcare delivery—ultimately setting them up for success in the real world.
As a certified healthcare architect and a member of architectural and consultant teams, Minta Ferguson, BArch, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, ACHA, director of Planning and Advisory Services at McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, has extensive experience planning healthcare facilities. She is a licensed architect and hosts a popular podcast, Ideas Shaping Healthcare. Her work has been published in Healthcare Transformers, and she regularly presents at healthcare conferences and trade shows.
