Photo: Alyssa Spangler (right) prepares to administer an injection under the skin of a patient's abdomen during a recent training experience at Valdosta State University's STEP (Simulated Patient Encounter Training) Center. Her classmate, Victoria Hess, is given intravenous medication. Young nursing students are learning how to care for an elderly female patient with atrial fibrillation. This is a scenario you are likely to encounter in a real-world medical setting.
VALDOSTA – Valdosta State University’s new nursing skills simulation training increases student success through patient encounters.
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Alex Wetherill enters Valdosta State University's STEP (Simulated Patient Encounter Training) Center for his first nursing simulation experience, ready to listen, assess and respond. Her instructions are clear. Use the concepts taught in the classroom to safely practice medical procedures you will someday perform on real patients.
Weatherill is his patient, an elderly, dark-skinned, state-of-the-art, high-fidelity female mannequin who is programmed to experience heart palpitations, fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath.
Under the guidance of instructor Andrea Page Crispin, undergraduate nursing coordinator in the VSU College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Weatherill communicates with patients, asks questions, comforts them, and explains what is going to happen and why. I will explain what it is. She practices taking patients' vitals, collecting data from heart monitors, and consulting with doctors. Throughout the simulation, the manikin reproduces many human reactions, including breathing, blinking, communicating distress, and responding to questions. This adds an authentic sophistication to the educational experience.
When the patient is eventually diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and prescribed medications such as anticoagulants, Weatherill calmly collects and calculates and administers the medications, meeting the patient's needs.
“Having hands-on experience with these mannequins has given me even more confidence,” she says. “They help us learn in a safe and controlled environment. Technologies like this are having a huge impact on us and are preparing us to provide excellent care to the real-world patients of the future. It helps make sure it’s in place.”
Weatherill discovered her passion for nursing after joining the U.S. Air Force six years ago.
“I joined the Air Force as an aerospace medical technician,” said the second-semester junior from Blacksburg, South Carolina. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing science at VSU through the U.S. Air Force Nurse Noncommissioned Officer Program. “I had the opportunity to work with amazing nurses who were experts in their field and who inspired me to become a nurse. I loved my job as a medic. I would like to use my nursing skills to continue serving in the Air Force and care for people who care about this country.
“VSU’s nursing program has been a great experience so far and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.”
Addressing Georgia's critical nursing shortage
The Georgia Health Workforce Commission will award VSU a $446,000 nursing school in spring 2023 to ensure all Georgians, especially those in rural and underserved areas, have access to quality health care. A grant was awarded.
Georgia is expected to have a 21% shortage of registered nurses by 2035, estimated to be the second highest in the nation, according to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis. The increased demand for nurses in the Peach State is due, at least in part, to an aging general population that requires expanded health care services and an aging nursing workforce that will soon retire.
As of 2022, approximately 43% of the state's total nursing workforce will be 50 years of age or older.
With workforce funding from the Georgia Medical Board, VSU's School of Nursing will train and graduate more practice-ready registered nurses, purchase new state-of-the-art high-fidelity mannequins and expand the STEP Center on campus. can be expanded. These sophisticated, lifelike human patient simulators mimic human anatomy and physiology and realistic patient environments.
Michele Blankenship, assistant professor of nursing and director of simulation at VSU, said the School of Nursing was able to purchase 11 new state-of-the-art, high-fidelity mannequins. There are 3 Nursing Anne (scenario-based training simulator) and 2 Nursing Anne (scenario-based training simulator). SimMan Essentials (core skills simulator), SimMom (complete birth simulator), SimNewB (neonatal simulator), and SimJunior (pediatric simulator).
“Our STEP Center now offers a variety of mannequins for all ages, genders and skin tones, from light to medium to dark,” she said. “The new manikins help provide a more comprehensive learning experience, and students are responding to them. Modern technology brings even more realism to simulations, allowing them to perform clinical tasks, make clinical judgments, “It increases students’ confidence in communicating with patients, each other, and in the real world, which leads to improved patient outcomes.”
Although the manikins have only been in use for a short time, Blankenship said he is already seeing the positive impact they are having on student learning. Students can now see themselves and their loved ones reflected in the patient simulators they are working with. campus. He said the new mannequins also reinforce lessons about the social determinants of medicine and how understanding a patient's culture and full life experience influences their health and future outcomes.
Professor Blankenship said research conducted by VSU School of Nursing faculty shows that on-campus simulation experiences have a significant impact on increasing nursing students' confidence and reducing anxiety. Ta.
“Simulation removes fear and puts students in a risk-free environment, allowing them to relax, learn, make mistakes and learn from them,” she added. “Because these new mannequins can mimic real patients and real-world medical scenarios, simulation gives nursing students the opportunity to gain insight into their own strengths and weaknesses and use that information to become better people and caregivers. born.”
Confidence is important because it motivates nurses to respond quickly and provide appropriate, safe, and accurate interventions. This helps nurses build rapport with patients and establish a level of trust that can mean the difference between life and death for a patient. Patients who trust their healthcare team typically share more information, which leads to better diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
“The great thing about training with mannequins is that it gives you the opportunity to practice a variety of clinical situations in a safe and comfortable laboratory environment,” said Alyssa Spangler, an associate nursing major from Moultrie, Georgia. Ta. “I feel that using the manikins will make me feel more confident as a future nurse and more prepared when facing real-life challenges in hospitals and medical settings.”
VSU's College of Nursing is part of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and offers the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Accelerated BSN program for degree-holding students seeking a second degree in nursing. Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Program. Students can pursue careers as family nurses or family psychiatric mental health nurses. The Doctor of Nursing Practice trains nurse leaders at the highest level of nursing practice to improve patient outcomes and translate research into practice.
For more information about the Georgia Board of Health Nursing School Grant, visit https://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2023/05/vsu-awarded-grant-to-address-nursing-shortage-train- Please refer to the. next generation pioneer patient care.php.
Also on the web: https://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/nursing-and-health-sciences/
