SimMan adds experience range to nursing program
The man in the hospital bed coughed. The nurse gently checked his vital signs and breath sounds, and then she administered the IV antibiotics to treat his pneumonia.
As she continued her assessment, he complained of increased pressure in his chest that was becoming painful.
He said, "I don't feel so good; I think I am going to vomit." Suddenly, his respirations increased significantly and the heart monitor started beeping rapidly. The man's blood pressure reading on the bedside monitor was elevated. The nurse quickly administered drugs according to protocol and a code was called.
This may sound like a scene from "Grey's Anatomy," but it's actually a nursing lab at McHenry County College, where practical nursing students learn routine and emergency patient care in a life-like setting.
The "patient" is an advanced patient simulator called SimMan, which has realistic weight and anatomy and responds physiologically like a real patient -- it can cough, breathe and speak. SimMan has heart, lung and bowel sounds, and can even die.
According to Joan Flanagan, dean of Health Career Programs and the nursing administrator, this state-of-the-art teaching tool will significantly enhance MCC student nurses' experiences with multiple medical scenarios before they care for a real patient in a hospital or clinic.
Students in Rock Valley College's practical nursing classes at MCC as well as MCC's Fall 2008 registered nursing program will use SimMan frequently for practice and testing.
"Students have the opportunity to experience a patient's reaction to their actions immediately, so they gain more confidence," Flanagan explained.
"Scenarios expand from the simple to the complicated as students become more knowledgeable. For example, SimMan could have diabetes, pneumonia, or hypertension -- or all three at the same time."
SimMan is hooked up to a computer that allows the instructor to program him with hundreds of scenarios that are only limited by one's imagination, Flanagan said.
After running through a scenario, the instructor and student can get a debriefing on the computer, look at what went wrong or right and assess if they could have changed what they did.
They then have an opportunity to run thought the situation again.
In addition to patient care, students are challenged and tested on their decision-making ability through scenarios that may include reporting progress to a doctor who calls in, or talking to a family member or another health-care team member.
The practice helps students build better assessment skills and students can learn from their mistakes in a safe, educational setting, Flanagan said.
"Before, a student would have to wait months to hear a particular breath sound on someone who is ill. Now, they can hear what someone with pneumonia sounds like before they see a real patient," Flanagan said.
"I'm extremely excited," Flanagan said. "It's a teaching tool that should be a part of all nurses' education. We're very lucky that we've had a very generous donor to help us, as well as Perkins (grant) funds."
The cost of SimMan was nearly $41,000.
Funding for SimMan came from a combination of sources, including a Perkins grant; over half of the money came from the Friends of MCC Foundation through a donor-directed gift received from the McHenry County Community Foundation.