While reviewing pictures from the recent AACN Doctoral conference, I started thinking about what a remarkable event it was. While it is always a wonderful opportunity to meet with colleagues and friends, this year’s conference offered numerous innovative and thought-provoking presentations. As the leader of a school with a long history of academic excellence and pedagogical innovation especially in simulation, I was particularly impressed with the Waxman & Nicol’s presentation, Innovation with Purpose: Simulation-Enabled Leadership for Doctor of Nursing Practice Programs on the integration of simulation to address doctoral level leadership competencies.
This presentation offered a compelling argument that we must reframe the use of simulation in nursing education as more than a technical teaching tool. The presenters discussed that in pre-licensure programs, simulation largely focuses on skill acquisition and clinical readiness, whereas in DNP education, its purpose must evolve toward leadership, systems thinking, and executive judgment At a moment when health systems are demanding not simply more clinicians but more adaptive, systems-oriented leaders, this session challenged us to reconsider the intentionality behind our simulation design and the importance of its alignment with doctoral-level outcomes.
From a broader nursing education perspective, this reframing has implications across the continuum. As health systems confront workforce instability, financial pressures, policy volatility, and widening health inequities, leadership cannot remain an implicit byproduct of experience. It must be intentionally cultivated. Simulation—when designed with purpose—offers a psychologically safe yet intellectually rigorous environment in which learners can practice advocacy, executive reasoning, conflict navigation, and ethical persuasion before real-world stakes are involved.
Furthermore, the emphasis on moving beyond checklists toward reflective leadership metrics and systems-impact evaluation aligns with competency-based education. If we claim that DNP graduates are prepared to lead system transformation, our assessment strategies must capture not just performance, but influence, judgment, and measurable organizational impact. Simulation, when purposefully aligned with leadership outcomes, has the potential to become more than a teaching modality. It can serve as a bridge between education and practice, between knowledge and influence, and between professional identity and systems transformation.