Practice gives nursing students best experience
February 25, 2010
The age old adage “practice makes perfect” may not always be true, but for senior nursing students, the practice represents the perfect situation.
A Feb. 16 Kernel article documented the heart attack of Henry Wall, also known as SimMan. SimMan is one of five robots the College of Nursing uses to perform simulations as routine as breathing and as serious as a heart attack.
The clinical simulations facility at UK consists of more than 10,000 square feet of labs and classrooms dedicated to training nursing students.
The facility is there for students to use these robots to learn from a controlled and simulated emergency situation. And it is there that UK is being set apart from other nursing schools across the nation.
Miller said UK’s College of Nursing bought one of the first generation SimMans, and if the department were to buy a product like it now, it would be a $100,000 investment. She said the two new simulators the college just bought cost $45,000.
The benefits of the SimMans are obvious, as they allow students to practice in low-pressure situations that are neither life nor death. The SimMan may be expensive, but the willingness to spend money to achieve the highest level of training, rather than taking shortcuts, will help UK produce a higher caliber student. This is a trend other schools within UK should begin to follow as well.
Taking strides to use this advanced technology and being the first in Kentucky to do so is a step in the right direction toward contributing to the university’s Top-20 Plan.
