Queen’s School of Nursing is pleased to congratulate faculty member Dr. Marian Luctkar-Flude and PhD student Laura Killam have been recognized by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), for their contributions to simulation learning and research in health education. They were honoured for their achievements during a ceremony at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) in Orlando, Florida this January.
With over 20 years of experience as a researcher and educator, Dr. Luctkar-Flude received the SSH Virtual Simulation 2023 Award for Innovation. She shared this honour with colleague Dr. Jane Tyerman, from the University of Ottawa, in recognition of their work leading the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim). CAN-Sim currently offers over 170 virtual simulations for nursing education, with the goal of connecting nurse educators and allied health partners from across Canada and beyond to share knowledge, resources, and expertise in areas of simulation education and research.
An internationally recognized expert in nursing education and clinical simulation research, Dr. Luctkar-Flude’s work strives to address gaps in health education, develop creative solutions, and inspire health professionals and educators through collaboration, mentorship, innovation, and scholarship.
Queen’s Nursing doctoral student Laura Killam, who is supervised by Dr. Luctkar-Flude, was awarded the 2023 SSH Early Career Research Award for her project: Differences in Student Experiences of Virtual Simulation Co-creation: Shifting Healthcare Education towards Equity-centered Authentic Assessment: A Phenomenographic Study. One of only two early career research awards granted by the SSH Research Committee, each recipient received a $10,000 grant to support their work.
Laura is an innovative nurse educator from Northern Ontario who is committed to advancing authenticity of nursing education through co-creation with students and community partners. Through collaboration with diverse people to create educational materials like simulation she hopes to bring person-centeredness to the forefront of education and practice. Her PhD research is focused on conducting a qualitative study exploring the different experiences of co-creation (shared decision-making) that students and educators have when making simulations together as part of an interprofessional assignment.
The Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) is a multi-disciplinary, multi-specialty, international society established in January 2004, to represent the rapidly growing group of stakeholders who utilize a variety of simulation techniques for education, assessment, and research in health care. The membership, now numbering over 4,000, is united by its desire to improve healthcare worker performance and reduce errors in patient care using all types of simulation tools.