- Simulated clinical experiences allow students to practice in a safe, supportive, confidence-building environment. Research supports simulation as an excellent teaching tool, as it removes the fear factor from the learning process
- Patients may have multiple conditions or an extensive history, making the nurse’s job a bit more challenging; Critical Care experiences include code scenarios and rapid declines in patient health status
- Sim Man in the center bed is affectionately named “Norman” (or “Norma”, as gender parts are interchangeable) and at about $200,000, is our most expensive manikin. Hershey Medical Center’s most expensive manikin costs about $400,000!
- Norman can talk, cough, cry, breathe, moan, excrete blood, tears, sweat, and spinal fluid, dilate his pupils, and more!
- Clinical simulation faculty change breath rates and patterns, heart sounds, and other vital signs in response to students’ nursing interventions. They control cardiac, circulation and airway patterns and can induce numerous medical complications to provide students with a robust clinical experience
- Students administer CPR; the manikin software monitors and provides students with feedback on compression depth, hand placement, and effectiveness
- Clinical simulation faculty observe and control conditions through the two-way mirror, work closely with students in the lab, and/or record simulation sessions to debrief in class
- Faculty play the role of a doctor or member of the healthcare team; student nurses practice making phone calls to obtain medication orders, consult with or update the doctor on clinical cases
