A multimodal nursing pedagogy utilizing simulation was incorporated into annual nurse competencies at a 465-bed academic medical center to translate into practice the required surveillance of a potentially septic patient and the necessary clinical decision-making. Pretest/posttest was used to determine knowledge retention from simulation. Nurses' sepsis knowledge following simulation was improved. Simulation can provide long-term knowledge retention of sepsis for application into clinical practice and be a viable option for competency assessment for professional nurses.