Wallace State Nursing Hosts Innovations in Simulation Workshop

Featured, Alumni, Health Headlines, Nursing, Respiratory Therapy

Apr 28, 2026

A panel of speakers are seated on high stools with audience members in the foreground and a moderator standing on stage behind the panelists.

Dr. Will Brewer, director of simulation at the University of North Alabama, answers a question during a panel discussion at the recent workshop hosted by Wallace State Department of Nursing Education.

HANCEVILLE, Ala. — More than 100 educators and healthcare professionals gathered at Wallace State Community College last week for the Department of Nursing Education’s annual workshop, which this year focused on artificial intelligence in simulation-based learning.

The workshop, Innovations in Healthcare Simulations, provided attendees with opportunities to learn how artificial intelligence, or AI, can be integrated into the training of future health care professionals.

Two main sessions addressed incorporating technology and AI into simulation programs and debriefing with good judgment. The sessions were led by Dr. Will Brewer, director of simulation at the University of North Alabama, and Kelly Dailey, a simulation educator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Breakout sessions covered a range of topics, including psychological safety in simulation and innovations in 3D printing.

During a panel discussion, Brewer said removing bias and improving time management are among the advantages of using AI in simulation.

“Everyone has bias, you have bias just because you’re human,” he said. “But we need to be as free of bias as we can in our sims and that’s one thing that I’ve seen a lot.”

Brewer also said artificial intelligence can help instructors better facilitate simulations. With earlier manikins, he said instructors had to serve as the voice of the manikin during simulations.

“Now, AI is being the voice of the manikin and that frees of a person to do something else,” he said.

Dr. Michelle Brown, director of the Healthcare Simulation School of Health Professionals at UAB, said AI is especially useful in the design, delivery and evaluation of simulations, as well as debriefing.

“But we don’t need to use AI so much without the human intervention,” Brown said.

Three women in dark blue scrubs stand beside a hospital bed looking at a manikin used for training purposes.

Nursing instructors Shelly Dyal, Hannah Sasser and Alecia McGregor of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College attended the workshop. Two years ago, Dyal and Sasser attended a similar workshop at Wallace State and said the experience inspired them to pursue doctorates in nursing with a focus on simulation.

“This conference means a lot to us because it’s advanced our careers, and every year it just gets better and better,” Dyal said. “We love the speakers and our wheels just start turning the moment we sit down and start listening. We hope to one day elevate our own program and have a certified sims center as well.”

Sasser said simulations help ensure consistent learning outcomes for students.

“It guarantees standardized objectives are met and in our rural community that we live in, they don’t always get that in clinical practices,” she said.

Wallace State’s Department of Nursing Education is accepting applications for Fall 2026 admission through May 15. For more information, visit wallacestate.edu/nursing or send an email to nursingapplicant@wallacestate.edu or call 256.352.8199.

Registration for the summer and fall semesters is underway, with summer classes begin May 26 and fall classes begin Aug. 17. Visit www.wallacestate.edu for more information or call 256.352.8236 or email lioncentral@wallacestate.edu.

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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a Rising Star for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, Wallace State is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.

Large lecture hall with tiered seating filled with attendees facing a presenter at a podium. A projection screen displays a slide titled “Student Perceptions — Wallace State,” with words including “Confidence,” “Realism,” “Clinical Judgment,” “Teamwork,” “Debriefing,” and “Preparedness.”