Reality without risk—
Kaiser Permanente San Jose and the Workforce Institute receive $800,000 grant to develop cutting edge simulation training program

San Jose, CA –
The San José Evergreen Community College District’s (SJECCD) Workforce Institute (IBP) has been awarded $800,000 by the State Chancellor's Office to develop an innovative, high-tech training curriculum for KP San Jose nurses that will eventually be shared with other health care facilities throughout Santa Clara County.

The grant will fund the development of a simulation training program to allow health care professionals to practice emergency and high risk scenarios using state-of-the-art simulation mannequins. Six Kaiser Permanente (KP) nurse educators and staff, and up to six community college health care faculty members will be trained in simulation instruction. The grant will also provide state-of-the-art simulation training to 400 nurses at Kaiser Permanente San Jose and fund a simulation lab in the Technology Center at San José City College. KP will provide technical assistance in the development of the curricula and simulation lab.

The grant addresses a problem identified by KP San Jose: helping its nurses access state-of-the-art training that reflects their day-to-day medical experiences. The training will be developed in partnership with KP San Jose’s Director of Education, Katherine Ricossa, RN. Project leadership will be provided by Dr. Ingrid Thompson, a project supervisor at IBP, and overseen on a daily basis by a professional nursing expert. The project will create 4 four-hour modules of multimedia training using human simulators capable of 72,000 physiological responses. These simulated scenarios offer reality without risk. Nurses learn in a safe environment how to assess complex medical issues without impacting the well-being of patients.

Carol Coen, Executive Director of IBP says, “We are excited about partnering with Kaiser Permanente San Jose on this innovative project. The Simulation Training Program supports KP’s professional development needs and establishes our District as a leader in creating cutting-edge workforce development programs for the health care community in Silicon Valley.” SJECCD Chancellor Rosa Perez notes that “This kind of partnership between education and industry is actually a partnership with our entire community. As we improve the quality of nurse training we improve the quality of life of our families, seniors, and children.”

An industry leader, Kaiser Permanente operates in nine states and the District of Columbia and is the largest not-for-profit managed care organization in the United States.  Kaiser Permanente San Jose is a full service, 248 licensed-bed hospital with outpatient medical offices.

 The Workforce Institute is the workforce intermediary for the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District and has provided customized training, professional development, skills upgrade training, and employability services to Silicon Valley’s businesses and workforce since 1988.

For more information contact:
Dr. Ingrid Thompson
Project Supervisor
408.283.3607
Ingrid.Thompson@sjeccd.org