Simulation is no longer the nice-to-have in the corner of the nursing program. It is a named part of the curriculum in every major nursing accreditation framework — and when the review team asks to see the simulation file, the coordinator discovers it lives in the sim lab, not the accreditation file. Scenario documents in a storage cabinet, debriefing notes on index cards, an evaluation rubric in a shared folder, faculty training certificates nobody can find. The teaching is happening. The evidence that it happened is scattered.
This guide walks through the records a simulation-based learning file needs to stand up to review — what each of the three frameworks (CASN, CCNE, and ACEN) points to, where each requirement sits in the standards, and how to keep the records current between cycles. It draws on the accreditors' own standards language. If your simulation work feeds into your clinical placement program, start with our guide to documenting clinical placements for nursing accreditation.
Simulation is in the standards now — not just in the lab
The three frameworks treat simulation differently, but none of them treat it as decorative.
- CASN requires both. Under Standard 4 (Program Framework and Curriculum), Key Element 6, the curriculum must provide practice experiences with individuals across the life span, families, and communities or populations. The standard's footnote is explicit: practice experiences include clinical placements and simulation, and simulation is not a replacement for clinical placements; both are required [1].
- CCNE names it as a teaching-learning practice. Under the 2024 Standards, which are currently in effect [2], Key Element III-G of the Curriculum standard expects teaching-learning practices — simulation is listed first among the examples — in all environments to support achievement of the expected student outcomes identified in course, unit, and level objectives [3]. The standards also call for planned didactic, simulation, and/or clinical practice experiences that prepare students to care for diverse populations (III-I) and to engage in interprofessional collaborative practice (III-J) [3].
- ACEN applies a specific criterion the moment you use it. Criterion 4.8 of the 2023 Standards and Criteria covers skills and/or simulation laboratory learning environments and experiences, if used: they must reflect evidence-based nursing practice, include healthcare technology, meet regulatory agencies' requirements for skills laboratory and/or simulation as applicable, and reflect the educational level at which students are being prepared (with the end-of-program and, for graduate programs, role-specific outcomes in view) [4].
The practical upshot: a program that runs simulation every week is already inside these standards. The question is whether the file can show it on demand.
Where each requirement lives
Here is the map, framework by framework.
ACEN (2023 Standards and Criteria). Beyond Criterion 4.8 itself, three other provisions reach into the simulation file. Criterion 4.10 expects formative and summative student evaluation methods to be utilized throughout the curriculum in all learning environments, varied and appropriate for all methods of delivery, and aligned with the progression of course student learning outcomes — a simulation debriefing or skills check is one of those methods, so it needs the same documentation as any other assessment. Standard 2 (Faculty) defines faculty to include those "teaching and/or evaluating students in didactic, clinical, and/or laboratory settings," and Criterion 2.6 expects faculty to develop and maintain current expertise that includes assessment and evaluation methods — simulation faculty are covered [4]. And under Standard 5, the systematic plan for evaluation (SPE) requires programs to maintain documentation for the three most recent years of assessment data, the analysis of that data, and the use of the analysis in program decision-making (Criterion 5.1, element e) [4].
CCNE (Standards for Accreditation of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs). The resources standard (Key Element II-B) is the one most simulation files miss: it expects a defined process to determine the currency, availability, accessibility, and adequacy of resources — clinical simulation is named in the examples — with modifications made as appropriate [3]. Curriculum key elements III-K and III-L extend the expectations: individual student performance is evaluated by faculty, and the curriculum and teaching-learning practices are evaluated at regularly scheduled intervals, with evaluation data used to foster ongoing improvement [3]. Program effectiveness (IV-A) must be determined through a systematic process that is written, ongoing, and includes timelines for data collection, review of expected and actual outcomes, and analysis [3]. CCNE's own supporting documentation list for the curriculum standard asks for examples of simulation-based experiences preparing students for diverse populations and interprofessional practice, and examples of student performance evaluations — didactic and clinical — including the evaluation tools themselves (examinations, quizzes, projects, presentations) [3]. The key elements cited here are worded the same in the 2026 Standards, which take effect January 1, 2027 [5].
CASN (Accreditation Standards and Framework). The self-study expectations for Key Element 6 are specific: a description outlining the sequence of planned practice experiences in relation to the expected outcomes and to the baccalaureate entry-to-practice competencies, with a sequential plan for practice experiences that links to expected outcomes available as supporting documentation [1]. Reviewers don't just read about your simulation — during the visit they observe classroom teaching, simulation teaching, and clinical placements, and they interview faculty, clinical teachers, simulation teachers, and preceptors [1]. Under Standard 6 (Quality Improvement), Key Element 4, documentation of student evaluations in theoretical and practice courses (simulation and clinical placements) should be provided during the reviewers' visit, along with examples of adequate and less adequate student assignments [1].
The six records a simulation file should hold
Pull the standards language together and the same six artifacts keep appearing. If you can produce all six for a sample of your scenarios, the simulation section of your self-study writes itself.
- Scenario files with learning objectives. For each scenario: the intended learning objectives, the course and program outcomes it supports, the competency or entry-to-practice competency it addresses, and the level of fidelity. This is the record that answers ACEN Criterion 4.8(d) (alignment to the educational level and outcomes), CASN's sequencing documentation, and CCNE III-G.
- Pre-briefing and debriefing documentation. Evidence that each simulation was a guided experience: the pre-brief given to students, the debriefing that followed, and the policy that describes your method of debriefing. The NCSBN's national simulation guidelines [6] list the debriefing method, faculty orientation, and evaluation methods among the policies a program should have in place.
- Evaluation tools and student work. The rubrics, checklists, or structured debriefing records used to evaluate performance in simulation, plus samples of completed evaluations. CCNE asks for examples of student performance evaluations including the evaluation tools; CASN asks for documentation of student evaluations in theoretical and practice courses (simulation and clinical placements) at the visit; ACEN's Criterion 4.10 expects varied formative and summative methods across all learning environments.
- Faculty qualification and preparation records. CVs and evidence of simulation instruction qualifications — coursework, certification, training with a consultant or experienced mentor — plus orientation and mentoring records for simulation faculty. ACEN's Standard 2 covers laboratory faculty; the NCSBN guidelines expect submission of CVs and evidence of qualifications for lead faculty and sim lab personnel; CASN reviewers interview simulation teachers directly.
- Facility and equipment adequacy review. A description of the physical space — the lab, storage and staging areas, and a place for debriefing — the equipment and technology used, and the defined process by which currency and adequacy are reviewed. CCNE's Key Element II-B names clinical simulation explicitly; ACEN Criterion 4.8(b) expects healthcare technology included; the NCSBN guidelines expect a written description of space and an equipment plan tied to objectives.
- Program commitment and sustainability. Evidence that simulation is resourced, not improvised: administrative support, a budget plan for sustainability and ongoing faculty training, and written short-term and long-term objectives for integrating simulation into the curriculum and evaluating the program. The NCSBN guidelines list all three as the first readiness check.
If you substitute simulation for clinical hours
Some programs replace part of their traditional clinical hours with simulation, subject to their regulatory body's rules. Two things matter here.
First, substitution is a regulator question. The CASN standard states that simulation is not a replacement for clinical placements and that both are required [1]. Before substituting any hours, check what your regulatory body allows and document that decision — ACEN's Criterion 4.8(c) expects simulation experiences to meet regulatory agencies' requirements as applicable.
Second, if substitution is on the table, the NCSBN's NCSBN's National Simulation Guidelines for Prelicensure Nursing Programs [6] are a reference many U.S. regulators know. They define simulation as a technique, not a technology — a way to replace or amplify real experiences with guided experiences — and they set out the readiness evidence: the commitment records above, the facility and equipment description, faculty qualification evidence, and the policies covering debriefing, orientation, and evaluation. They also list the criteria regulatory bodies weigh when deciding how much simulation can substitute for traditional clinical hours: the overall number of clinical hours required, student pass rates, availability of clinical sites, turnover of faculty or the program director, complaints from students, and retention rates [6].
Closing the loop: linking simulation to outcomes
The question reviewers ask last, and the one simulation files fail most often: what did your simulation data tell you, and what did you change? All three frameworks expect the answer to be documented.
- ACEN — the SPE requires a variety of appropriate direct assessment methods, specific measurable expected levels of achievement, analysis at regular intervals, documentation for the three most recent years, and sharing of the analysis with communities of interest (Criterion 5.1) [4].
- CCNE — Key Elements III-L and IV-A expect evaluation data from teaching-learning practices to inform decisions that facilitate achievement of student outcomes, through a written, ongoing, systematic process with timelines [3].
- CASN — Standard 6, Key Element 5 expects evaluation data to be used to make improvements to the program, and the self-study should include recent examples of changes made as a result of collected evaluation data [1].
A practical format: one page per cycle. What simulation data was collected (scenario completion rates, rubric scores, structured debriefing themes), what the expected level of achievement was, what the analysis showed, and what changed in the curriculum, the scenarios, or the faculty preparation. That single page converts a folder of debriefing notes into outcomes evidence.
A simulation evidence folder you can produce in an afternoon
The six records above, plus the one-page outcomes summary, is a simulation evidence folder any reviewer can audit without chasing three people and two cabinets. The habit that keeps it alive is the same one that keeps your site-visit preparation calm: file records as they are created, review the folder against the standards once a term, and let the outcomes page be the first thing you show.
If your simulation records live in a cabinet, a shared drive, and one coordinator's memory — or you are just starting to think about the next review — we would be glad to talk through where your simulation evidence lives today. A discovery call, not a pitch.
References
- Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, "CASN Accreditation Standards and Framework (BScN)," CASN. [Online]. Available: https://www.casn.ca/Assets/CASN/Documents/Resources/CASN/EN-CASN-Accreditation-Standards-Aug-30-2022-plus-TRC.pdf
- Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, "Standards, Procedures and Guidelines," CCNE. [Online]. Available: https://www.aacnnursing.org/ccne-accreditation/accreditation-resources/standards-procedures-guidelines
- Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, "Standards for Accreditation of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs (Amended 2024)," CCNE, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/CCNE/CCNE-Education-Standards-2024.pdf
- Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, "2023 Standards and Criteria," ACEN, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64cd4590606a797c63f00e8e/68cc6e92e75d954138b1fb26_ACEN%20Standards_Criteria.pdf
- Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, "Standards for Accreditation of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs (Amended 2026)," CCNE, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/CCNE/CCNE-Education-Standards-Updated-2026.pdf
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing, "National Simulation Guidelines for Prelicensure Nursing Programs," NCSBN. [Online]. Available: https://www.ncsbn.org/nursing-regulation/education/national-simulation-guidelines.page
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