Nola Reporter

State-of-the-art simulation lab on campus  allows students to learn and practice crucial clinical skills before  beginning clinical rotations 

(New  Orleans – September 28, 2022) Thanks to generous donations from the  William Randolph Hearst Foundations, the Selley Foundation, the Edward  G. Schlieder Educational Foundation, and the Alden and Margaret Laborde  Foundation, the Loyola University New Orleans College of Nursing and  Health will proudly open a state-of-the-art Nursing Simulation  Laboratory in partnership with Ochsner Health on Saturday.

 

The new $1.9 million Loyola Ochsner Nursing Simulation Lab – the “Sim  Lab” – on Loyola’s campus is a high-tech outfitted center that allows  students immersive, hands-on learning opportunities in simulated  inpatient and outpatient settings, as they prepare for careers in  hospitals, labor and delivery rooms, emergency rooms, and other clinical  settings.

 

Simulation can replicate clinical practice in a safe environment and  provide nursing students with opportunities to practice their clinical  and decision-making skills through varied real-life situational  experiences, without compromising a “real” patient’s well-being.

 

“Being able to practice basic nursing skills on high-tech mannequins in a  simulated environment is an invaluable opportunity we are thrilled to  offer our students, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped to  make the Sim Lab possible,” said Dr. Cherie Burke, director of the  School of Nursing.

“Whether students are practicing simpler tasks such as taking blood  pressures or more advanced nursing practice skills like delivering a  baby, these hands-on experiences and opportunities allow the instructor  to stop in the moment and provide detailed guidance and feedback. They  also allow the student the opportunity to ask questions and repeat  skills over and over again before working in a real healthcare  environment.”

The state-of-the-art experiential learning space will be used to educate students in Loyola and Ochsner’s joint Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for undergraduate students and Loyola’s new accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program,  initiating in January 2023. The ABSN program is designed for career  changers who have a bachelor’s degree or higher in a field other than  nursing. Loyola graduate students of various specialties will also be  using the Sim Lab.

The Sim Lab furthers Loyola’s partnership with Ochsner, which  provides the university’s undergraduate students access to clinical  training and placements, eliminating common barriers for nursing  students. Both programs are also supported through the flagship Ochsner  Scholars initiative, a tuition assistance program for aspiring nurses,  allied health workers and physicians who pledge to serve as Ochsner  employees following education at an accredited school. Ochsner Scholars  is a key investment of the collaborative Healthy State by 2030  initiative, an ambitious plan with partners like Loyola to lift  Louisiana off the bottom of national health rankings and help  communities attain better health, well-being, education, and workforce  development opportunities.

Such investments are critical, as healthcare workforce challenges  have grown in recent years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor projects more than  1.1 million new nurses will be needed by 2030.

“The Ochsner and Loyola partnership educates students at the highest  levels of healthcare training, putting ethics and passionate commitment  to excellence at the forefront of everything we do,” said Dr. Leonardo  Seoane, Chief Academic Officer of Ochsner Health. “In partnering with  Loyola, we leverage the human capital of our region and create a clear  pathway for Louisiana’s nursing workforce. We believe that the  high-caliber resources offered in this new simulation lab are key to  developing the next generation of nurses.”

Loyola’s new Sim Lab is equipped with high-fidelity mannequins  capable of mimicking medical conditions that will improve or deteriorate  based on the intervention provided by the nursing student. These  lifelike mannequins are highly complex and responsive, designed to react  like humans.

The several simulators Loyola purchased includes one representing a  full-term pregnant adult abdomen that is worn by someone “acting” in the  role of the patient. This simulator allows students to experience a  variety of birth scenarios and practice their skills assessing a woman  experiencing complications of pregnancy.

“Students will also be able to work in the Sim Lab using other  wearable simulators worn either by other students or patient actors  (called standardized patients) designed to give students an even more  realistic patient experience, including simulating the feeling of  contractions,” Burke said. Other wearable prostheses allow nursing  students to learn how to place a urinary catheter and practice working  with patients in vulnerable scenarios.

A variety of adult and child simulation mannequins also allow  students to hone skills, such as airway management, CPR, heart and lung  sound assessment, and participation in common clinicals scenarios like  excessive blood loss, cardiac arrest, and stroke. Additional simulation  equipment will be purchased to allow advanced practice nursing students  to build expertise with nursing skills like endotracheal intubation,  addressing cardiac issues, and management of seizures.

“In the new Sim Lab, undergraduate nursing students will have the  chance to ask questions, adjust, and rehearse their responses repeatedly  before beginning on-the-floor training in a real hospital or clinic  setting,” said Dr. Michelle “Shelli” Collins, dean of the College of  Nursing and Health. “They enter their clinical rotations ready to  respond and ultimately will emerge from their four years of cumulative  education as floor-ready nurses.” 

The campus community will celebrate on Saturday, October 1 with a  private dedication ceremony that begins in Ignatius Chapel in Bobet Hall  at 10:30 a.m. We will move to the Lab in Monroe Hall at 11 a.m. for a  blessing of the new space and live demonstrations. Demonstrations will  at approximately 12:30 pm, in time for the university’s White Coat  ceremony for nursing students, which starts at 1 p.m. in Ignatius  Chapel. 

What’s a White Coat ceremony? Find out all about it. We held our first one on campus last year. 

Original source can be found here.