NEWS AND EVENTS Becky Mann,
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February 8, 2008
Simulators change the face of healthcare education

(GREENVILLE, SC) -- Greenville Technical College will be recognized as an Education Innovator for the college’s use of patient simulation technology. The award will be presented in Tampa, Florida, during HPSN 08, the Feb. 18-21 meeting of the Human Patient Simulation Network of Medical Education Technologies, Inc. This group is the largest education, training, and networking medical simulation meeting of its kind anywhere in the world, bringing together 1,000 medical education simulation experts.

As the population ages, there’s no shortage of people requiring healthcare services. For many years, however, there’s been a shortage of people qualified to care for patients. Greenville Technical College has joined with healthcare providers to address the problem, becoming part a new statewide network of simulation centers in South Carolina where healthcare providers can receive better clinical education, improving quality and patient safety. This collaborative effort is an initiative of Health Sciences South Carolina, established in 2004 with the vision of improving the health and economic well being of South Carolina through a coordinated effort to advance health sciences research and education.

The first center in the state opened in Greenville in March 2007. The Greenville Healthcare Simulation Center houses sophisticated simulation technology valued at half a million dollars. Eighteen months from now, the center is expected to occupy a new 12,000 square foot facility on the Greenville Memorial Medical Campus, part of the Research Education Innovation Institute.

Taking advantage of this tremendous resource has been a challenge for nursing and healthcare educators at Greenville Tech. The goal has been not to use simulators to recreate clinical experiences that students already have access to, but to use simulation technology to expose the greatest number of students to experiences they most likely would not have otherwise.

For Physical Therapist Assistant students, one lab using the simulators has allowed them to become comfortable with something they’ll encounter in the future. When these students go to acute care settings for clinical experience, they’re likely to work with patients who have IVs, catheters, chest tubes, ventilators, and other medical devices attached. It’s important for students to learn how to work around these devices while working with patients.

Physical Therapist Assistant Department Head Nancy Williams developed several scenarios using the simulators. In one, a patient was on a ventilator and the ventilator became disconnected. Students had to problem solve, deciding what to do in that situation. In another scenario, the task was early mobilization – getting the patient to sit up on the edge of the bed. The simulator was programmed to tell the student that he felt faint, and the student had to decide what to do.

“It’s realistic but yet it’s not a real live patient, so it’s not as terrifying,” Williams said. “It gives students the chance to problem solve and learn how they would handle the situation.”

The experience made a lasting impression on many of the Physical Therapist Assistant students. “I thought that the Human Simulation Lab was invaluable,” said Amber Armstrong. “I’d never taken vital signs before, and I got to test those skills in a realistic manner and without the worry of seeming inadequate or awkward in front of a real person.”

Nursing instructor Lena Warner has used patient simulators to improve the education she provides in the area of labor and delivery. First level obstetrics students are exposed to the patient simulators before they go to the hospital. This allows them to become more familiar with labor and delivery and to know what to expect when they encounter real patients. Warner tells these students what to look for during the birthing process, and they go through the simulated birth together.

Upper level students encounter the patient simulators and the complications that have been programmed in cold, without any information on what might occur. They must respond appropriately as the situation is presenting. Warner says the simulators offer a number of advantages. Students see situations that they might not encounter in the clinical setting. They can intervene, and the instructor can slow the situation down and talk about it. If students fail to respond as they should, Warner can actually allow the simulated baby to suffer the consequences. In this way, the students can see what happens if they don’t respond as they should without any harm to a live patient.

“Simulators allow us to provide better education because we can control it, we can slow it down, and we can add in complications they may not see otherwise,” Warner said. “It has greatly improved the education we provide.”

Thirteen patient simulators are now teaching students at Greenville Tech, where the college has named a Simulation Director due to the increasing role that simulators play in educating students in the healthcare programs. The goal is to combine simulation technology on campus with the capabilities of the Greenville Healthcare Simulation Center, using the center for as much as 20 percent of students’ clinical experience. A simulation center is also being built on the Barton Campus of Greenville Tech. The 2,400 square foot facility is expected to open Fall Semester 2008.

“A Greenville Tech Simulation Committee has been formed to coordinate between Greenville Tech and the Greenville Hospital System so that we do what’s appropriate here and what’s appropriate there,” said Barbara Nickles, associate dean for nursing at the college. “There’s more to it than buying a simulator. It’s a whole different way of thinking about education.”

“Simulation technology is the way of the future. Thanks to our partnership with Greenville Hospital System and Health Sciences South Carolina, it’s also the way we’re teaching our students right now,” said Dr. Thomas Barton, president of Greenville Tech. “As an educator, I feel that we’re giving our students the best possible preparation. As a healthcare consumer, I feel confident that what we’re doing will mean better care for all of us.”