Open house for renovated Simulation Center is October 2

The University of Southern Indiana College of Nursing and Health Professions is hosting an open house for the newly-renovated Clinical Simulation Center from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, October 2, on the second floor of the Health Professions Center.

"Our center is really unlike anything in the Tri-state. With the renovation, it is a more realistic clinical learning environment," said Christine Thompson, coordinator of clinical simulations. "Our nursing and health professions students are exposed to a variety of scenarios and situations that add both skill and depth of knowledge to their educational experience."

Students in the College of Nursing and Health Professions have been using sophisticated high fidelity simulation equipment with live video streaming and recording for the past 10 years, according to Dr. Ann White, dean. She said the renovation, which took place at USI over the summer months, takes the Simulation Center "to the next level."

The room has been subdivided into separate areas to more closely resemble a hospital setting, complete with sliding glass doors found in intensive care units, a patient assessment room, and a dedicated control room from which to run the three Laerdal high fidelity simulation mannequins who are patients in the Simulation Center. Each area is set up with video cameras so that interactions with the "patients" can be streamed live and videotaped for later viewing in the classroom.

"The ability to tape and view the scenarios is an important process of 'debriefing,'" Thompson said. "Our faculty can watch it with the students and point out both the positive things that happened and also ways the situation with the patient could have been approached differently. We've been doing this at USI for several years now, but the renovation provided software and two additional servers to allow us to do even more video streaming and recording."

Other Simulation Center enhancements include a newer defibrillator, electronic thermometers programmed to give temperatures of the simulation mannequins as if they were humans, and additional IV pumps. There are three patient beds for the simulation mannequins in the center: two are "inpatient-style" rooms, and the third is in a more open environment for larger simulation groups.  Additionally, there is an outpatient examination room which is equipped to perform patient assessments.  The room also features a one-way glass window which allows faculty to observe students as they work with patients to perform assessments or deliver patient education.

"The Simulation Center is utilized by the College of Nursing and Health Professions to provide students with a realistic experience in caring for patients before they enter a clinical environment, like a hospital, physician office, or clinic," said Thompson. "Students typically are introduced to the center by learning to take vital signs on the simulators.  As the students gain skills, they participate in educational scenarios designed to reinforce learning with hands-on applications. It is a safe environment for students to learn how to take care of patients and also gain a sense of confidence before they enter the clinical setting or begin working in the community."

For more information about the open house, contact Thompson at 812/461-5458 or cjthompson1@usi.edu.