Fostering Moral Courage in Healthcare Through Simulation & Storytelling

Dr. Dawn Wawersik is a distinguished educator whose illustrious journey spans military service, critical care nursing, and a thriving career in healthcare education and simulation. After proudly serving in the United States Navy, she transitioned into nursing, earning her Bachelor's degree. Her clinical experience as a critical care nurse laid the foundation for roles as a hospital-based and clinical educator. Driven by her passion for nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals, she pursued advanced degrees, including a Master's in Nursing Education, and became the Director of a Nursing Simulation Center. Here, she pioneered innovative distance simulation programs and interprofessional initiatives. With a PhD in Health Professions Education and Simulation, she is now the Executive Director of the Interprofessional Simulation Institute at Nova Southeastern University where she is leading the development of a state-of-the-art simulation center.

Lance W. Baily, BA, EMT-B is the Founder / CEO of HealthySimulation.com, the world’s leading healthcare simulation resource website which supports thousands healthcare professionals a month. As an experienced entrepreneur, digital media producer and administrative professional, Lance has the background and the experience necessary to help guide the clinical simulation industry to mass adoption.

Lance is also the Founder of SimGHOSTS.org, the leading 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to supporting healthcare professionals operating clinical simulation technologies which has organized over twenty hands-on training conferences around the globe since 2011. His co-edited  book “Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Operations, Technology, and Innovative Practice” provides 400 pages of in-depth articles supporting the technical integration of medical simulation in any sized program.

Formerly he served as Director of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Clinical Simulation Center of Las Vegas, Simulation Technician for the LA Community College District, and volunteer Fire-Fighter, after receiving his BA in Film and Digital Media Production and working on Hollywood production sets. He currently lives with his wife and two young daughters in Las Vegas.

Melissa Jo Tully, BSN, MHPE, RN-BC, is a highly accomplished healthcare professional with a passion for education and patient safety. With a Master’s degree in Health Professional Education from the College of Medicine at Vanderbilt University, Melissa has honed her expertise in developing innovative programs to enhance healthcare performance and quality. As an experienced nurse, Melissa followed her passion for lifelong learning by exploring nursing specialties through her early nursing career as a float nurse, including working in critical care, emergency room, labor and delivery, and hospice. Melissa launched her career in consulting, by starting Medical Simulation Consulting. Her firm’s primary focus lies in designing, developing, and evaluating simulation programs that integrate augmented and virtual reality technology, as well as audiovisual technologies.

Teresa Gore, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CHSE-A, FSSH, FAAN - Dr. Gore has experience in educating future nurses in the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. Dr. Gore has a PhD in Adult Education, a DNP as a family nurse practitioner, and a certificate in Simulation Education. Dr. Gore is an innovative, compassionate educator and an expert in the field of healthcare simulation. In 2007l Teresa started her journey in healthcare simulation. She is involved in INACSL and SSH. She is a Past-President of INACSL and is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator Advanced (CHSE-A). In 2018, she was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). In 2021, she was inducted as a Fellow in the Society of Simulation in Healthcare Academy (FSSH) and selected as a Visionary Leader University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Alumni. During her career, Dr. Gore has led in the development and integration of simulation into all undergraduate clinical courses and started an OSCE program for APRN students. Her research interests and scholarly work focus on simulation, online course development and faculty development. She has numerous invited presentations nationally and internationally on simulation topics.