The George Washington University (GW) has launched a new program to help leaders in the School of Nursing who want to show faculty how they can incorporate real-life health care simulations into their lesson plans. The school plans to roll out a series of new simulation programs this year through a newly launched program called GW Nursing Simulation Initiatives.
The programs will help faculty across the world better teach students how to work with mannequins and live patient actors who can provide students with real-life experiences in the nursing field. The new initiative was launched after the nursing school’s second annual simulation conference in March. Most of the programs will be headquartered on the Virginia Science and Technology Campus where the nursing school’s flagship building recently added 12 private exam rooms and two acute care rooms.
GW Nursing Dean Pamela Jeffries tells GWHatchet.com, “When we create this safe, non-threatening environment and immerse students in a simulation, it replicates a real clinical environment—it’s safe, they’re not going to harm patients.”
Two types of simulation training will be offered—“immersions” and “intensives”. Immersion sessions will start in July and include “best practices” for directors of simulation centers, technicians, and teachers. Intensive programs will launch in the fall and feature lessons on including simulations in curriculum and incorporating simulations across professions. Participants will learn how to properly oversee students working with mannequins, control rooms, and cameras.
To learn more about GW Nursing’s newly launched program to train faculty in simulation practices, visit here.
Concordia University Ann Arbor’s School of Nursing recently conducted a poverty simulation that presented 65 students with tough questions related to the topic: What if you only had a $10 bill for the month to meet your family’s basic needs? How does living in poverty look when you are a senior citizen, disabled, or receive federal assistance?
Called the Community Action Poverty Simulation, the simulation was designed to help students understand the realities of poverty by putting them in the shoes of a person who lives in poverty. According to University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, during 2017, 12.7 percent of people living in the US had incomes below the poverty line. The experience was intended to help nursing students learn to more empathetically and effectively provide care to future patients in these scenarios.
Nursing students interacted with “participants” who played the roles of bill collectors, job interviewers, grocers, police officers, teachers, and more. During the three-hour simulation, nursing students were given scenarios and had to find a way to provide shelter and basic necessities on a limited budget over the course of four weeks.
Anita Simmons, the School of Nursing’s director of simulation, said in a press release, “We are thrilled by the way this program helped our nursing students understand the complexities and frustrations of living in poverty day to day. With a greater awareness of its impact, our students will be able to more effectively address poverty issues when working with patients.”
The Concordia University Ann Arbor School of Nursing requires students to spend 90 minutes per week in simulation labs like the poverty simulation one. To learn more about the university’s simulation program, visit here.
