Greetings from your Certification team!
Today, we’ve got some big news to share and a tiny bit of bragging to do!
The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) has officially granted full renewal of accreditation to both our Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) and Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) programs!
In the world of professional certifications, NCCA accreditation is the gold standard for certification programs. Achieving and maintaining accreditation is essentially a rigorous, high stakes exam for our exam programs. The NCCA reviewers assessed everything we do, from how we write our test questions to how we protect your data. Achieving reaccreditation means our processes are fair, our standards are high, and your hard-earned credentials carry serious weight in the healthcare simulation community.
To keep our accreditation, we had to demonstrate total compliance with more than 20 distinct NCCA standards for each program, with each standard acting as a high-stakes hurdle designed to protect the integrity of your credential. The process began with an audit of our Governance, ensuring that our certification body operates with enough independence to put the profession and the public first.
From there, the NCCA reviewers looked at our Practice Analysis. We had to prove that the questions you see on the exam aren't just pulled from a textbook but are directly tied to a massive study of what healthcare simulationists actually do in the field.
Perhaps the most rigorous part of the process involved psychometric evaluation of the programs. This is where data scientists examine the data behind our tests. They scrutinize every question on every form we have released in the last five years to ensure the exams are valid, reliable, and provide a fair measurement of skill for every candidate, regardless of where or when they test.
Finally, they evaluated our security and recertification policies, confirming that we have the ironclad systems needed to protect your data and the ongoing requirements to ensure that a CHSE and/or CHSOS holder stays at the top of their game long after their initial exam day.
Now, we aren't usually ones to toot our own horn, but the CHSE and the CHSOS are currently the only accredited healthcare simulation certification programs in existence. This means, when you hold a CHSE or CHSOS certification, you aren’t just holding a piece of paper. You’re holding a credential that has met the highest independent standards for excellence. You’re part of an elite group that is leading the way in healthcare simulation-based education and operations.
Thank you to our incredible community of educators and operations specialists who push us to be better every single day. Thank you to the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who sit in long item review sessions, debating the nuances of a single question to ensure it reflects real-world practice. They help us define the "passing point" and ensure that our exams aren't just difficult, but relevant.
Thank you to all of those who have served on the Certification Council and Subcommittees. Without their tireless work and commitment to the profession, this NCCA renewal simply wouldn't be possible. They are the guardians of our standards. This achievement is just as much yours as it is ours!
That’s all for now, until next time, be excellent to each other and get certified!
Rachel Araujo
SSH Director of Certification