Practice for the Real World of Nursing Care

Lauren Heraghty ’14 has a fever, headache and some blisters following an explosion in the workplace. It’s up to Kristina Romaniv ’13 and Miriam Saquique ’13 to assess Heraghty’s condition and plan an appropriate clinical intervention—STAT.

Welcome to the Simulation Lab, the site of an innovative teaching and learning curriculum in the School of Nursing that replicates real life scenarios allowing B.S.N. (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) students to learn, practice and apply skills in preparation for clinical practice. The scenario above is part of the fourth-year Community Health Nursing course that includes disaster nursing and an exercise replicating an explosion involving anthrax exposure.

Using mannequins and second-year B.S.N. students playing disaster victims, Romaniv, Saquique and other fourth-year students were tasked with assessing those who had been exposed to anthrax, referring those in need of immediate medical care and triaging patients in the manner of first responders at a disaster scene.

Simulation is integrated into a significant number of nursing courses. In Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, for instance, students encountered an assault victim suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and in Care for Adults and Aging, faculty designed a scenario involving older adults with depression and poor nutrition.

“Because we have incorporated simulation in all of our undergraduate clinical courses, our students are performing better on classroom exams and the NCLEX-RN licensing examination,” Dean of Nursing Ann Tritak, Ed.D., told Nurse.com, a leading source of nursing news. School of Nursing faculty also attended a recent roundtable with the online publication to discuss the University’s simulation curriculum.

The program also utilizes the latest practices in healthcare to better prepare graduates for clinical practice. Faculty have incorporated SimChart, an electronic health record system, into the lab and clinical rotations. Lisa Garsman, R.N., M.S., F.N.P.-B.C., director, B.S.N. program, said this provides students with practical experience in electronic documentation. “Students complete case studies, which allow them to document care as they make clinical judgments from one phase to the next,” she explained.

“Saint Peter’s School of Nursing faculty have taken the simulation laboratory setting beyond that of just ‘practice,’” Dr. Tritak added. “Our simulation laboratory is utilized for instruction, practice, remediation and evaluation. Not only are physiological elements employed, but psycho-social and therapeutic communication concepts are woven throughout each clinical course for students to master.”

The expectation is that students will achieve a level of competence prior to interacting with actual patients. “The simulation scenarios developed by faculty have engaged our students in such creative learning strategies,” Dr. Tritak continued. “They are well prepared not only for experiences while at Saint Peter’s, but for their professional careers as well.”

School of Nursing faculty members presented their Mental Health Sim curriculum at the 12th Annual International Nursing Simulation/Learning Resource Centers Conference in June. Assistant Professor Michelle Beckford, DMH, Patricia Ahearn, R.N., M.S.N., clinical lecturer and coordinator of the Simulation Lab, Michelle Morales, R.N.-B.C., clinical instructor, and Corinne Ellis, R.N., D.N.P., assistant professor, represented Saint Peter’s University.