The California Simulation Alliance (CSA) is pleased to announce the evolution of CSA into the Western States Simulation Alliance beginning in November 2025. This transformation will allow individuals, organizations, and associations from California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawai’i to collaborate, contribute, and take advantage of offerings, resources, and other benefits across the western states. CSA is a virtual entity and a non-profit program within the California Institute for Nursing & Healthcare. This HealthySimulation.com article by Teresa Gore, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CHSE-A, FSSH, FAAN, will review the history of the California Simulation Alliance and their evolution into the Western States Simulation Alliance.
History of the California Simulation Alliance
In 2008, HealthImpact founded the California Simulation Alliance to network and support interdisciplinary healthcare educators in California and beyond. According to the organization, healthcare simulation professionals utilize multiple types of simulation in pre-licensure schools to provide high-quality clinical experiences in hospitals to improve patient care and teamwork.
CSA’s vision is to strengthen the healthcare simulation workforce through high-quality simulation. To achieve this, the organization works to strengthen expertise in simulation and advocate for simulation policy through interprofessional education, collaboration and evidence-based practice. With this goal, CSA’s values remain rooted in education, collaboration, partnerships, research, and policy.
Vision, Mission, and Values
- Vision: Strengthening the healthcare workforce through high-quality simulation
- Mission: To strengthen expertise in simulation and advocate for simulation policy through interprofessional education, collaboration, and evidence-based practice
- Values: Education, Collaboration, Partnerships, Research, Policy
- **Education:**We believe that evidence-based simulation prepares students for practice, strengthens curricula, and that all simulation faculty need ongoing development
- Collaboration: Networking and sharing best practices strengthens our alliance
- Partnerships: Strategic partnerships are critical to advance simulation best practices and expand opportunities for outreach
- Research: We promote inter-organizational research on simulation
- Policy: We are a voice for simulation to continuously improve the preparation of the healthcare workforce
Transformation to the Western States Simulation Alliance (WSSA)
At IMSH 2025, the Western States Simulation Alliance held an after-hours meeting sponsored by Medical Shipment to bring the leaders of each simulation entity together for collaboration. At this meeting, Dan Micic, founder of Medical Shipment, stated his dedication and commitment to the members of WSSA. Each organization and regional group has a lead contact and focus for their area. The geographic areas are the different regions of California, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawai’i.
WSSA Goals: Share, Support, Sustain
The transformation to the WSSA includes goals for the alliance. These goals include members the opportunity to share information that can identify and spread best practices. This occurs through faculty development that can create, enhance, and sustain simulation centers. For best practice applications, simulation professionals need to develop evidence-based simulation scenarios. All of these goals and practices can promote joint healthcare simulation research among organizations and create a common language for simulation.
Benefits of Joining WSSA
There are numerous benefits to enrollment as a subscriber to the WSSA for an annual fee. These benefits are excellent professional development opportunities and can provide preparation for the CHSE and CHSOS certifications. Other benefits include:
- Assess to over 125 validated and tested clinical, leadership, and implicit bias scenarios. Many of these have been mapped to the AACN Essentials.
- Discounts to simulation courses taught by experienced simulation faculty in-person and on Zoom.
- Courses will be scheduled in Oregon and Washington with the evolution to these states.
- Discounts to the WSSA-sponsored Simulation Conferences
- Access to the WSSA Simulation Coordinator list, list-serve, policy briefs on simulation, regional survey data, forms, and job descriptions
- Newsletters and e-blasts
- For Institutional WSSA Subscribers: Access to preferred vendor pricing agreements with: Laerdal, Limbs & Things, EMS, Medical Shipment, Elevate Healthcare, Prism, Kyoto, and the Debriefing Academy
- For Institutional WSSA Subscribers: Free job opening postings in weekly e-blasts
View the new HealthySimulation.com Nursing Group to discuss this topic with your Global Healthcare Simulation peers!
WSSA Healthcare Simulation Courses
WSSA offers numerous healthcare simulation professional development opportunities with live in-person courses, virtual courses, and an annual meeting. The 2025 Simulation Course dates are:
- The Master Debriefer Course – Virtual on seven Wednesdays in February 5, 12, 19, 26, and March 5, 12, and 19
- Advanced Debriefing Course – Virtual on Friday, February 21
- Level I Training – Beginner – Virtual on Friday, March 28 and Friday, June 20
- The Clinical Debriefer Course – Virtual with dates to be determined
- Advanced Debriefing – In-Person on Friday, June 6
- 2-Day Simulation Intensive – Virtual on Friday & Saturday, June 19 – 20 Advanced Debriefing – Virtual on Friday, July 11
- Simulation Operations Specialists – In-Person on Friday & Saturday, August 28 – 29 in Irvine, California
- Advanced Debriefing with Implicit Bias – Virtual on Friday, September 12
- 2-Day Simulation Intensive – In-Person on October 2 – 3, with the location to be determined
- WSSA Conference – SAVE THE DATE – November 7 – 8 at the Andaz Hotel in San Diego, California
Implicit Bias – Call to Action
WSSA is seeking interested individuals to write scenarios that focus on implicit bias situations. The Work Group with complete experiences for use with interprofessionals involved in healthcare. There is an opportunity to receive training on how to write and conduct implicit bias experiences.
View the HealthySimulation.com Webinar Building and Sustaining a Statewide Clinical Simulation Alliance to learn more!
Expert Healthcare Simulation Professionals
There are numerous healthcare simulation professionals who have been involved with CSA and now WSSA. One of these individuals involved is KT Waxman, DNP, MBA, RN, CNL, CENP, CHSE, FSSH, FAONL, FAAN. Dr. KT Waxman is a national nurse leader and executive with extensive experience in healthcare and corporate settings. She is a Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing, and is the Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. She is also the Director of the Western States Simulation Alliance (WSSA), formerly the California Simulation Alliance. In addition to her work at UCSF and the WSSA, she is the Editor-in-Chief of Nursing Administration Quarterly (NAQ). An internationally known speaker and author, Waxman is also a Past President of the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL) and past board member, serving as Treasurer, for the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL). She is a Past President of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), a 5,000+ member international, inter-professional organization.
The WSSA Manager and another leader is Alexandra Duke, DNP, RN-BC, CEN, CHSE, CNEcl, EBP-C. Dr. Duke is a DNP nurse leader with clinical specialties and national certifications in emergency and medical-surgical nursing. Additional areas of expertise include evidence-based practice, academic clinical nursing education, and healthcare simulation.
