• RNAO

• Nursing Innovation Grant

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD), Master of Science in Nursing (MScN), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN)

This dual-perspective, bilingual virtual simulation will be utilized by both undergraduate and graduate level nursing and psychology students, newly hired nurses in all clinical settings in Northern Ontario and beyond. As an open-access tool, the innovation offers scalability provincially, nationally, and internationally, supporting equitable training and broad adoption in diverse practice settings. The simulation engages learners in suicide risk assessment and intervention (SRAI) with a young person, uniquely offering dual perspectives through the eyes of the patient and clinician. Co-developed with individuals with lived experience and an interprofessional team including psychology, it enhances interprofessional learning, competence, and self-efficacy.

This novel bilingual virtual simulation module offers a dual-perspective co-created with a young person with lived experience of suicidality, alongside nursing and psychology students and faculty. Unlike clinician focused simulations, learners will be immersed in both clinician and patient viewpoints. This fosters empathy, strengthens trauma and violence-informed communication, and reduces stigma around suicide risk assessments. Each phase will be co-developed to ensure authenticity. The simulation promotes interprofessional collaboration and offers a psychologically safe space to practice complex communication and assessment skills. Its open access, virtual format supports broad scalability across diverse settings and disciplines, promoting equitable access to high-quality education. Aligned with Healthcare Standards of Best Practice, the module includes pre-simulation preparation, immersive simulation experience and an embedded, trauma-informed debrief, reinforcing reflective learning and professional competence.

The mental health of Canadian youth has declined significantly, with the proportion reporting their mental health as fair or poor increasing from 12% in 2019 to 26% in 2023. In Northern Ontario, access to mental health services is further limited by geography, low population density, and rurality. It is essential nurses and other healthcare professionals are trained in SRAI as many learners report feeling underprepared. With nursing education enrolment rising, clinical placements in speciality areas (paediatrics, mental health and community) remain scarce. This standardized virtual training will address this gap, advancing interprofessional education by fostering collaboration between nursing and psychology learners, promoting shared decision-making, empathy, and clinical competence. Through dual-perspectives, learners gain practical experience in therapeutic communication, stigma reduction, and trauma-informed care, increasing confidence, competence, and a collaborative workforce ready to respond to young people in crisis.

This virtual simulation module will enhance nursing and other healthcare professionals education, practice, and working environments by developing knowledge, skills, and abilities in SRAI, aligning with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) Entry-to-Practice Competencies. Across all forms of nursing education (diploma, baccalaureate, and advanced practice), it provides a standardized, psychologically safe environment to develop communication and assessment skills before entering practice. For newly hired professionals, it offers a structured on-boarding tool that supports early skill development and clinical judgment in practice. By increasing self-efficacy in navigating high-stakes, high-stress and mental health situations, this innovation will support clinician well-being, retention and the delivery of trauma-informed, person-centred care across all healthcare settings. Due to the collaborative, generalizable development of this innovation, health professionals will be able to adopt this module in a variety of diverse settings.

The development of this innovative bilingual, dual-perspective virtual simulation module will be supported by CAN-SIM through the provision of camera equipment and website hosting of the open-access module. It will be integrated into undergraduate nursing curricula (community and mental health courses) and graduate psychology courses (Clinical Didactics). Serving as a standardized, interprofessional learning tool, supporting both academic and clinical environments. This module will offer learners and clinicians an experiential learning opportunity to complete a suicide risk assessment through two unique perspectives- the patient experiencing suicidality and the clinician caring for the young person. Following completion of the simulation, the learner will engage in the embedded trauma-informed debriefing activity to enhance learners’ critical thinking, therapeutic communication, and application of SRAI frameworks in a safe, controlled environment. Moreover, by integrating dual perspectives, learners will engage in an immersive experience that allows them to understand the interaction through the eyes of both the patient and clinician, deepening empathy and enhancing the delivery of compassionate, person-centred care. As a collaborative project, the virtual simulation will also be implemented at various levels of graduate training in the Master of Arts (MA) and PhD Clinical Psychology programs. MA students enrolled in a Clinical Didactics course will engage with nursing students to learn about SRAI and engage in the same simulation experience. Senior-level PhD students will serve as mentors to the nursing and psychology students throughout the simulation. The simulation will be used to build all students’ confidence and competence in interprofessional collaboration and suicide risk assessment. By engaging both nursing and psychology learners in the same simulation experience, this innovation promotes interprofessional education, fosters shared learning, and strengthens collaborative skills essential for person-centred care. Following implementation and evaluation at our organization, we will share the innovation with other nursing and psychology programs, healthcare organizations, and professional associations. Dissemination through academic publications, conferences, and webinars will facilitate knowledge exchange and promote adoption in other areas with similar training gaps and resource limitations. This innovation will support clinical partners during onboarding and orientation programs for new nurses or other clinicians, through Dr. Mushquash’s existing collaborative relationships at various local and provincial healthcare organizations. New graduates often report feeling underprepared for managing complex mental health situations in non-institutional settings. This innovative module will offer employers a standardized, evidence-based training in SRAI, aligned with best practices and organizational protocols. As the demand for mental health services continues to grow across Northern Ontario, this innovation will provide a flexible, scalable training option that can be adapted for various learning contexts. Ultimately, this innovation is designed to be sustainable, scalable, and accessible, with the goal of preparing nurses and other professionals with the confidence and competence in SRAI academic and clinical settings in Ontario, nationally, and internationally, resulting in the provision of high-quality patient care.

Caroline Sabotig, RN, MN, PhD (student), CCSNE, Simulation Lab Coordinator, School of Nursing, Lakehead University
Dr. Aislin Mushquash, Ph.D., C.Psych, Lakehead University Research Chair in Youth Mental Health, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Lakehead University
Dr. Jane Tyerman, RN, BA, BScN, MScN, PhD, CCSNE, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa