Health Occupations Simulation Lab

New Health Occupations Labs Blur the Line Between Simulation and Reality

A Medical Assisting student prepares an injection in one of the Health Occupation Simulation Lab’s clinical rooms. Education in any health professions field requires extensive hands-on training. With shortages across the nation for clinical experiences, simulating realistic scenarios is vital. This is where Idaho State University College of Technology’s new, cutting-edge Health Occupations Simulation Lab and Nursing Skills Lab come in. The Health Occupations Simulation Lab provides an accurate recreation of clinical and hospital settings for the various disciplines available through the College of Technology’s curriculum. It fosters interdisciplinary collaboration within its multiple units that each serve a specific purpose. These units encompass several labs, five simulated hospital rooms, two simulated clinic rooms, three control rooms and two debriefing rooms. “The interdisciplinary approach is very important especially in the clinical or hospital setting when health care providers from different disciplines work together to deliver effective and efficient patient care,” said Dr. Henry Oh, executive director and chair of the College of Technology’s Health Occupations Department. All programs were on display during the November 2, 2022 open house. At this event, attendees witnessed live demonstrations of students transferring a patient from an ambulance to the lab’s emergency room. Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad even took a literal stab at drawing blood from an IV arm simulator after receiving a quick tutorial from students in the Medical Assisting Program. In addition to the new facility, the lab features a ton of new state-of-the-art equipment thanks to the Building Idaho’s Future and Leading Idaho Grants provided by the State of Idaho.

Health Occupations students transport a patient between rooms during an emergency drill at the new Health Occupations Simulation Lab.

“Through these grants, we were able to purchase cutting-edge equipment for various programs at the College of Technology,” said Debbie Ronneburg, interim dean of the College of Technology. “The grant funding will go a long way to instruct all health occupations students at ISU.” Here is a look at the capabilities of the various rooms within the Health Occupations Simulation Lab: The Intensive Care Unit replicates a critical care setting found in modern hospitals. It uses evidence-based practice standards as well as high-end manikins to prepare students for the intense situations that often come up in critical care scenarios. These manikins can be remotely operated to bleed, breathe and even speak. One scenario that is practiced with these manikins that has become all too common in the past couple years is adult critical care ventilator management. Another is the management of advanced ICU hemodynamics which is all about how the blood flows and the forces that affect it. The lab even simulates intense scenarios that students may not get the opportunity to see during their clinical rotations. The Labor and Delivery Suite provides students with experience in newborn care as well as labor and delivery settings. Both normal and high-risk situations are addressed using the lab’s SimBaby which accurately replicates an infant. Some of the most important skills that students acquire in this suite are newborn resuscitation and the ability to assess a large variety of delivery scenarios. The Emergency Room simulates a hospital emergency and trauma care setting for multiple programs in the Health Occupations Department. It recreates real-world emergency and trauma scenarios such as injuries from a car accident or a heart attack. By relying on its advanced SimMan manikins, students are able to learn at their own pace without placing patients at risk. The Med/Surg Room simulates a medical/surgery unit capable of providing a broad array of different scenarios for students in multiple programs. These scenarios range from something as simple as addressing a basic illness to dealing with something more extreme such as a patient with internal bleeding. This allows students to learn med/surg care at an appropriate pace that can be difficult to achieve in the clinical setting. The Pediatric Unit simulates the pediatric care setting by preparing students to identify and manage childhood medical issues. It incorporates evidence-based standards of practice and gives students a space to assist in scenarios that they may not have time to see

Nursing students practice procedures in the Intensive Care Unit of the Health Occupations Simulation Lab. ISU.EDU/TECH | TECH ANNUAL 2022 11

during their clinical rotations. The core of the unit is the Laerdal SimJunior manikin which simulates a child of about six-years-old. The Outpatient Clinic Room simulates a doctor’s office or urgent care clinic setting. Here, students experience real world clinic scenarios and work on their social skills as they relate to patient care. It also allows students to simulate real-world out-patient scenarios like kidney stones or diabetes. The Therapy/Treatment Room is a setting that simulates physical and occupational therapies. It allows students to gain experience in a variety of therapeutic methods. These include but are not limited to situations involving brain damage, mobility issues and diabetes. The Debriefing Room contains a state-of-the-art SimCapture system that records the simulations to provide feedback and statistical data to the students and faculty. Using the specialized manikins that are installed in the rooms, the instructors can create problems and give feedback in real-time without needing to be in the room with the student. This process enhances the immersion of the student and provides a more personalized experience. Right next door to the Health Occupations Simulation Lab is the Nursing Skills Lab which teaches nursing students through competency-based assessments and skills prior to their clinical rotations. It contains several advanced manikins and IV arm simulators. These manikins can be used to simulate airway management, catheterization, wound care and sterile techniques

An instructor speaks with students in the Labor & Delivery Suite.

A Medical Assisting student works with instructors in a simulated clinical room.

used in nursing. The IV arms allow the students to gain competence and confidence in placing the needle far before they ever treat a real patient. “With the current shortage of clinical sites, simulation allows students to obtain clinical hours using real-life clinical scenarios,” said Jennie Brumfield, director of nursing programs at the College of Technology. “Utilizing simulation affords our students the opportunity to gain experiences that they may not otherwise see in the hospital setting.” This is just a glimpse of the new state-of-the-art technology being utilized by students in the ISU College of Technology’s Health Occupations programs. If you are interested in checking out these facilities, visit isu.edu/ tech/online-experience/ to schedule your tour.