Kelli Giffin
Director, Clinical Simulation Center
Instructor, Professional Nursing Practice Academic Department
Kelli Giffin, MS ‘98, is an educator and a nurse innovator who manages Georgetown University’s Clinical Simulation Center.
She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing (1995) and Georgetown University (1998) as a Family Nurse Practitioner. In leading the Simulation Center, she focuses on developing the competencies and critical thinking abilities of both undergraduate and graduate students, building on her expertise in clinical hospital-based practice. She also works as a bedside nurse at MedStar Georgetown University Medical Center. In 2017, Giffin received an International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) Simulation Fellowship. In recognition of her outstanding leadership in the field, in 2021, she received the Georgetown Women in Medicine Mentoring Award.
Giffin is well-known for reflecting Jesuit principles and a Hoyas for Others perspective. During the pandemic she led a pivot of teaching methods toward developing and implementing virtual simulation learning, a change that enabled students to continue gaining skills through distance learning. Using 360-degree photos, videos, and audio files, she conceptualized and created a web-based tool to reflect simulations that had previously been conducted on campus. The simulations and supply kits were individualized based on the stage at which students were in their education. Giffin’s creativity and dedication enabled Georgetown’s nursing students to continue their studies throughout the difficult Covid-19 period. Her work has provided a powerful human element to the Simulation Lab, before, during, and after the pandemic, and her simulations are still used for clinical makeup in order to augment clinical experiences and assist with the development of critical thinking skills.
