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NEWS
| SEPTEMBER 28, 2005
Nursing
School designated as Center of Excellence
UTA will work with Laerdal Medical
Corp. for simulation research and training.
By Patrick
Golightly
Contributor to The Shorthorn
Already a leader in nursing simulation in the Metroplex, the School
of Nursing has been designated as a Laerdal Center of Excellence,
joining five other collegiate nursing academies with the purpose
of collaborating in nursing simulation training and research.
While the designation comes as a major “feather in the cap”
for the school, Nursing Dean Elizabeth Poster said the partnership
will open up numerous training possibilities within the program.
She also said the school increased affiliation with the Laerdal
Medical Corp., the leader in medical simulation technology, to help
better outfit and educate students with patient care skills while
helping to reduce malpractice risks.
“We will be able to benefit from the lessons learned in other
Laerdal centers so we can progress more effectively and efficiently,”
she said.
The school has already purchased 27 Laerdal patient manikins, which
can be programmed to simulate scenarios ranging from childbirth
complications to life-threatening wounds. By practicing on simulators
that mimic real-life scenarios, students can develop the necessary
skills before ever working with a human patient.
Students can still “kill” the patient simulator if they
perform procedures incorrectly, but the worst that can happen is
a bad grade on a lab.
“You can go through critical situations without worrying about
actually killing the patient,” nursing senior Brian Huber
said.
Poster said the addition of more patient simulators is in the works
for the school, and the affiliation with Laerdal will make these
additions more accessible for the department.
Beyond the technology gained from exercises performed here, they
will be sharing new information with the five other Laerdal campuses:
the Wiser Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, the University
of Maryland, the Temple College Health Sciences Center, the STRATUS
Center at Brigham and Women’s University and the Oregon Health
Sciences University.
“This is a long-term relationship that is based on what we
have seen with other Laerdal centers, that we can accomplish things
together that we cannot do alone,” Poster said.
Senior Kimberly Narogu is already praising the opportunity to practice
daily in the classroom what would normally require her to get an
internship at a major hospital to perform. By being able to practice
early in school, she said she has a leg up on employment opportunities
once she leaves the university and begins seeking a job in the nursing
field.
“It’s giving us situations we might not see in the hospital,”
she said. “So if we do come in contact with it later on, we
already know how to handle them.”
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