From the Record-Courier,
The heart attack patient lay silent on the bed as a group of nurse practitioners hovered over him, preparing a catheter. About a dozen visitors also watched the very private procedure take place, though the patient didn't seem to mind.
He was a SimMan, one of three lifelike manikins built by Laerdal and used by Kent State University students to practice procedures and treatments in the new Olga A. Mural Nursing Simulation Laboratory in KSU's Henderson Hall.
The lab, dedicated Wednesday, was made possible thanks to a $125,000 gift from Mural, a longtime benefactor to the university. Real bedside furnishings were provided by The Hill ROM Co. and an emergency "crash cart" was provided courtesy of a donation by Barbara Donaho. Nursing faculty and KSU architects worked together to build the two-room lab to the College of Nursing's specifications.
College of Nursing faculty, staff and students toured the lab and observation room where faculty or other students may observe the action in the simulation lab, which is monitored by cameras and microphones. Software programs can be used to simulate heart attacks and other medical emergencies in the manikins.
The anatomically-correct SimMan and SimBaby manikins -- appropriately covered up with blue KSU blankets -- even have pulses in some of their limbs, and chests that heave up and down as they "breathe." The SimMan can "talk" to students about how he feels, receive intravenous tubes or be intubated to create an unblocked airway. The SimBaby even "cries."
The lab will prepare undergraduate and graduate students to work together and for their clinicals "in a way we can't," said Nancy Aho, KSU nursing professor and coordinator of the simulation lab.
"It makes a way for students to get experience problem-solving," she said.
College of Nursing Dean Laura Dzurec said KSU has 1,338 nursing students across its eight campuses, and said KSU President Lester Lefton wants to see more to help fill the nursing shortage in Ohio.
"In some places, these manikins sit with a sheet over them. That won't happen here," Dzurec said. "I can't tell you how excited we are."
Read about it here.
I soooo hope I get to go play in there sometime next semester! Stuff like that is so totally amazing for learning how to think fast on our feet and make quick, critical decisions without the added pressure of the patient actually dying. Especially in critical units, a patient can drastically change within just a few seconds, and without practice in real scenarios, it's easy for students (or even licensed nurses) to just lock up and freeze. Sim man is going to be an invaluable teaching tool for us. The future of nursing is so promising, and technology is beautiful for giving us things like this. Soooo exciting!!!!
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