Before a student ever walks into a simulation lab at Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing, chances are Zoe dePenaloza, RN, MSN and LaTreece Norwood, RN, MSN, have already been at work often days and months in advance—bringing that experience to life.
As simulation specialists, Zoe and LaTreece are the backbone of Goldfarb’s simulation center, supporting every undergraduate and graduate program that includes skills or simulation (sim). The entire sim team, led by Shawne Manies, PhD, RN, director of simulation, is a tight-knit group focused on one goal: creating safe, realistic, high-impact learning experiences that prepare students for real patient care.
Zoe has been part of Goldfarb for 12 years, totaling a 34-year nursing career at BJC. For her, simulation felt like the natural next chapter.
“I thought helping educate the next generation of nurses would be the best way to wind down my nursing career,” Zoe explains. “Nursing is an amazing and rewarding profession. As I near the end of my nursing career, I want to teach the next generation of nurses who will carry on the torch.”
LaTreece joined Goldfarb seven years ago, drawn by both opportunity and purpose. After working in simulation previously and serving as nursing faculty, she knew education was where she could make the biggest impact.
“Educating future nurses, I am helping shape the quality of care that patients will receive for years to come,” LaTreece says. “Even more, I chose teaching because I want to be a role model in my community. Encouragement matters.”
Simulation specialists handle everything behind the curtain. Zoe and LaTreece work closely with faculty to translate learning objectives into evidence-based scenarios that mirror real clinical situations. That means prepping patient charts, medications, hospital rooms, and high-fidelity manikins—down to the smallest details.
“We do all of the background work to help the scenarios come to life,” Zoe says. “Running simulations takes a vast amount of preparation and research.”
LaTreece agrees that realism is essential. “The simulation rooms are set up to look exactly like a real hospital room,” she says. “Students are told to treat the manikins as if they are the patients over in the main hospital.”
From adjusting vital signs and voicing patients during scenarios, to troubleshooting technology mid-session, their days are anything but predictable.
“Every day is different, which keeps it interesting,” Zoe says.
What sets simulation apart is not just the technology, but the environment Zoe and LaTreece create for students.
“It gives them a place to safely discover themselves,” Zoe explains. “How do they react in stressful or chaotic situations? Sim helps students put the pieces of clinical and didactic together and connect the dots in a non-judgmental, supportive, safe environment.”
LaTreece echoes that sentiment. “Simulation is a safe place to learn, and this is the place where you want to make mistakes,” she says.
Both find the greatest reward in watching students grow—from tentative first steps to confident clinical decision-making.
“Seeing them go from learning how to use a stethoscope to running a code,” Zoe says. “Hearing them say, ‘I finally feel like a nurse.’”
For LaTreece, it’s the moment when everything clicks. “We call this the light bulb moment,” she says. “The students understand and can critically think and make decisions and work as a team.”
And for students about to step into the lab for the first time?
Zoe keeps it simple: “You’ll get out of it what you put into it.”
LaTreece adds: “Relax and breathe.”