Harper College's simulated hospital gives real-life experience

A group of Harper College nursing students rushed Thursday to tend to Mr. Al Koholic, a drunken driver recovering at the intensive care unit following a motor vehicle crash.

The surprisingly lifelike "man" had to be restrained after pulling out his arterial line and is bleeding profusely. His heart rate and respiration are dropping. He screams at the nurses to let him go.

"I need some fluids!" one student yells, maneuvering around the room while another student grabs a mask to wear and puts pressure on the wound.

It was just another day at Harper's new simulation hospital, a wing of the Palatine campus' Avante Center featuring mannequins, patient rooms, a nurse's station, call light system and drug supply room.

Officials gathered this week to dedicate the latest health care teaching tool, one of the first in the state.

"Here's a place that looks just like a hospital and allows students to make decisions by themselves and make mistakes in a safe environment," Nursing Simulation Lab Coordinator Barbara Gawron said.

Nursing students, as well as students from other health care programs, work with mannequins that can be posed and programmed to simulate a variety of ailments. They can also produce various bodily fluids from various orifices, and show appropriate rhythms when electronic leads are attached.

Instructors stand behind one-way mirrors and speak through a microphone to talk on behalf of the mannequins. Cameras are set up on each room to record the lessons.

The scenarios get students thinking about privacy and cultural issues, as when mannequin Diane Betic, disoriented from low blood sugar, demands males leave the room since she's not wearing her headscarf.

The hospital includes a computerized system for charting medical records and iPod Touches to be used as clinical reference tools.

"Between the call lights and the beeping and the mannequins' pupils dilating, I feel like we're really preparing ourselves for a clinical setting," said nursing student Donna Friis, who's set to graduate in two weeks. "We're forced to pick up on small changes and small clues on the mannequins and monitors, and we never had that before."

The project started in February as a single room, with Gawron having to constantly switch out patient scenarios. She approached the dean about converting the space into an entire wing, and said the end product is a realistic health care facility that provides a safe and controlled environment for learning.

The simulation hospital cost about $300,000, with Harper contributing about $265,000. The rest came from the college's foundation and partner hospitals.