Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 10.04.2022 
On behalf of the Sentinel U® team of developers, instructional designers, storytellers, subject matter experts and sales and marketing specialists, we are honored to be one of the four finalists for the 2022 EdTech Company of the Year.
Since our inception in 2015, Sentinel U has become one of the world’s leading healthcare education technology companies. By 2020, our digital learning resources and virtual simulations were used by nursing degree programs, hospital systems and healthcare facilities around the world. While use of simulation in nursing education had seen steady growth over the past seven years, it was the surge in demand brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic that tested our mettle.
Indeed, it was our team’s accomplishments amid these challenges that inspired us to apply for EdTech Company of the Year consideration.
When the world shut down in 2020, nursing schools halted in-person instruction and healthcare facilities canceled clinical rotations. It quickly became clear that nursing students would face considerable hurdles as they sought to secure the clinical hours needed to graduate and join the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we were poised to take the lead. Our team immediately set out to create new products that would meet the influx of nursing school needs while simultaneously providing nursing instructors with best practices for multiple content delivery modalities.
While dealing with pandemic challenges ourselves, our team introduced 14 new virtual clinicals and two new community health simulations – Sentinel City® v.5 and Sentinel City® Canada. Through our engaging and authentic scenarios, we helped ensure nursing students would develop advanced observation techniques, cultivate critical thinking skills, and practice professional caring of a patient population while enduring isolating lock downs. In the past year, our virtual clinicals were used by more than 200 schools and healthcare organizations across the United States and Canada, as we delivered over 130,000 learner experiences and counting.
Beyond expanding our product offerings and raising the bar in EdTech, the past year solidified virtual simulation as a desired teaching modality. It’s widespread use amid the pandemic also brought forth opportunities to research and measure its impacts on nursing education. Several acclaimed research institutions, including the Mayo Clinic, currently utilize our innovative education technology for nursing education research through our Sentinel U Nursing Simulation Research Grant (SUNSRG) program. We anticipate receiving valuable, measurable insight into its effectiveness in both academic and professional applications this year.
We remain committed to innovation and advancing the field of simulation. Our newly launched Thought Leadership Advisory Council, comprised of eight experts in nursing, academia, and research and development, will help guide Sentinel U in our continued development. Each member offers our team valuable expertise, anecdotal evidence on simulation usage, insight into industry deficiencies and feedback on professional proficiencies. We also will continue to launch new programs that meet the needs of our nursing community, including Advanced Practice Series™, a virtual simulation series launching this fall for advanced practice nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and Professional Nursing Seriesä, a professional development virtual simulation now available for new nurse residency programs, nurses transitioning into practice and practicing nurses.
Our selection as a finalist for the 2022 EdTech Company of the Year validates the hard work and dedication exhibited by the entire team at Sentinel U, especially during the difficult times we faced during the height of COVID-19. Even as we excitedly await to learn whether we will be selected as a winner, we revel in our recognition and look forward to continuing our mission of delivering next-level simulations to our healthcare education community for years to come.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Caplan
President, Sentinel U®
