Clinical Simulation Nursing Labs: What Are They Like?

[madden52]

Hi all,

I was wondering what it is like learning in Clinical Simulation Nursing Labs. Do most nursing schools have them? also, how many students are usually assigned to dummies for practicing (if applicable). do a lot of schools let you go in after class hours (ie: evening) to practice simulating medical situations, or are schools pretty strict about that? thanks!!

[May2011Grad]

Not quite sure what they are like because my first time in the lab will be Thursday but we will be allowed and are given very strong recommendations to use the SimsLab outside of class hours.

[PAERRN20]

The dummy my school had was ridiculous. The simulated urethra was so big you could probably put a foley in blindfolded. Same for the veins. Hopefully your school will have a more realistic one. As for learning skills on a dummy, forget about it. Every time I would touch the dummy an arm or leg would fall off. And I consider myself a pretty good nurse.

[DoGoodThenGo]

IMHO, clincal lab dummies rank right up there with those infant dolls one uses in expectant mother classes. In theory the thing works fine, however in reality it leaves much to be desired. I mean putting a diaper on a infant doll is one thing, but try doing so on a live wiggle worm making enough noise to blow the froth off a Horlicks several feet away, all this at 3AM after not having slept more than two hours in the past twenty four and you get my drift.

[bananimal]

I am blessed to go to a school with an incredibly well developed Sim Lab.. Students and Professors come from all over to see and use it. Our patients breathe, speak, bleed, have fevers, have babies, etc, etc, etc..

This is the website for it, check it out http://health.stcc.edu/SIMSMedical/

[sleepyRN2]

simslab is a great way to practice already learned skills, to learn new ones, and also to hone one's critical thinking skills. our in-school simslab facility can accommodate less than 10 students. we are given scenarios, usually three to four scenarios for the entire day. one-half of the group stays in an annexed room where they can view all the action from a closed circuit tv, while the other half gets to act the different roles (eg. one is the nurse, another a doctor, or one would be the father or the mother, etc.). the scenario is being videotaped and when the instructor/facilitator deemed that she has enough to be played for everyone to critique then that's when she intervenes in order to stop the play acting. we all then convene with the rest of the group to discuss the played scenario; i.e. we discuss the glaring errors, or the what-nots, what-ifs, and what-elses could have been done in the scenario such as what better intervention or interventions the person could have done or not do, etc. these are scenarios one would expect to encounter in real-life therefore helpful when one is actually on the floor interacting with other healthcare workers, patients and their family. our school's simlab purpose is mainly for self assessment, for one to learn and have fun in the process. one good thing is that it is non punitive; therefore, every one feels relaxed, after awhile that is. and the take home pay is that we each learn from our mistakes and reinforce to selves our strengths: we give constructive criticisms as well as rewards to a job well done.

[pupsnpaws]

Wow, I wish our school had a lab like that! Our "dummies" are not the greatest like some of the other quotes state.

[chicookie, BSN, RN]

Nothing like the real deal in my case. those dummies were old and crappy.

We learned foley c, central line dressing change, NG tube insertion, iv insertion and something else that I don't remember.

It was fun though.