The recent unavailability of clinical sites resulted in the widespread use of distance simulation in nursing and other healthcare programs (Buléon et al., 2022; Leaver et al., 2022). The lack of proper training for simulation educators in the distance setting led to instructional challenges for both educators and learners (Buléon et al., 2022; Jeffries et al., 2022). The pandemic highlighted the previously unrecognized need for established criteria for using technologies for distance simulation (Jeffries, 2022; Leaver et al., 2022) and developing nurse educators’ digital competence (Jobst, 2022). Digital competence is “the knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities, strategies, and awareness required when using information and communication technologies and digital media” (Jobst, 2022, para 1). Distance simulation is essential for online programs and can also be leveraged to mitigate the continued difficulties in finding clinical sites (Cant et al., 2023).

In 2021, The Distance Simulation Collaboration (DSC) began the project of determining competencies for distance simulation educators (DSEs) in nursing and other health professions (Palaganas et al., 2022), which yielded the DSE guidelines (Bajwa et al., 2023). Our review of the literature revealed a gap in technology-related faculty training (Jeffries et al., 2022). Since technology plays a central role in distance simulation, this study aimed to explore the technological criteria and competencies needed for DSEs. We adopted “distance simulation” from the DSC (Chang et al., 2022, para 6), an umbrella term for closely related but distinct terms such as tele-, remote, remote-controlled, virtual reality simulations, or any combination of these modalities.