SUSAN ELLER, RN, MSN (Director of Interprofessional Education)
Susan Eller, RN, MSN, is the Director of Interprofessional Education for the
Department of Simulation Technology and Immersive Learning at Northwestern
University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and holds a faculty appointment as
a lecturer in Emergency Medicine. Susan develops and provides educational
experiences for undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education
programs with an emphasis on teamwork and communication skills that enhance
patient safety.
Susan’s background includes several years of developing continuing education
programs for nurses and paramedics with the use of simulation-based strategies for
training and assessment of technical and non-technical competencies.
One of Susan’s focus areas is faculty development; her work includes designing and
implementing a course titled “Simulation for Clinical Instructors” as an introduction
for educators new or unfamiliar with simulation-based educational strategies.
Susan also works with the School for Education to lead sessions on facilitation and
debriefing skills for the “Resident as Teacher” program, which is designed to help
residents mentor medical students during their teaching rotation.
Susan is a Master Trainer for AHRQ’s TeamSTEPPS program and uses this
conceptual framework in several of her projects, including several projects designed
to assess teamwork, communication, and patient safety issues, such as:
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Improving teamwork, efficiency and reliability of care in the treatment of
severe sepsis and septic shock in the emergency department with risk-
informed-targeted in situ simulation.
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Evaluation of high-fidelity simulation by direct observation and self-
reflection to improve communication with patients and families.
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A qualitative analysis of themes and threats to safety revealed using high-
fidelity simulation prior to utilization of a new care space.
- The effect of in situ simulation on teamwork and communication in the
neonatal intensive care setting.
Susan also works in collaboration with Northwestern Memorial Hospital to provide
simulation experiences for new patient care hires during their orientation. This use
of simulation-based education is a novel approach to assess and integrate learning
needs of the new hires into practice. Cases were designed using NMH and QSEN
core competencies as behavioral objectives for nurses.
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