To kick off Healthcare Simulation week, Belmont University and The Tennessee Simulation Alliance hosted the documentary “To Err is Human” on Monday, September 17. Created to bring patient safety back into the national discussion through the power of documentary storytelling, the film aims to showcase solutions that are easy to implement and would dramatically improve the quality of health care.

While access to care is a vital flashpoint in America, it is equally important to ensure the quality of that care is improving and not actually causing unnecessary harm or death. The No. 3 leading cause of death in the United States is its own health care system. Medical mistakes lead to as many as 440,000 preventable deaths every year. Directed by the son of late patient safety pioneer Dr. John M. Eisenberg, the in-depth documentary details interviews with leaders in healthcare, footage of real-world efforts leading to safer care, and one family’s compelling journey from tragedy to triumph.

After the viewing of the documentary, a panel of distinguished guests including Director of the Pamela C. Williams Simulation and Clinical Skills Center at Meharry Medical College Dr. Regina Stokes Offodile, MD CHSE MMHC MHPE MSPH; Vanderbilt University Medical Center Center for Research and Innovation in Systems Safety’s Dr. Dan France, PhD, MPD; Senior Vice President at the Tennessee Hospital Association Center for Patient Safety Chris Clarke, RN, BSN and Neonatal Outreach Senior Program Manager, Perinatal Outreach Coordinator of Middle TN in the Division of Neonatology and the Simulation Coordinator at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Mary Lee Lemley, RNC, MSN participated in a discussion with moderator and Dean of Belmont’s College of Health Sciences and Nursing Cathy R. Taylor, DrPH, MSN, RN. The discussion was rich and highlighted the need for health care professionals to use effective communication to prevent patient harm while challenging healthcare educators to use simulation as a tool to provide a safe place to train the future healthcare workforce.