411 S. Nedderman Drive
Box 19407, Arlington, Texas 76019-0407
P: 817-272-2776 | F: 817-272-5006
Putting people first, the Smart Hospital’s person-forward approach to skills training
Putting people first, the Smart Hospital’s person-forward approach to skills training
“Remember to take it out of the box and practice if we aren’t on campus,” jokes Jennifer Roye, assistant dean for simulation in The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation, as she hands one of 450 new task trainers to BSN students picking them up before last month’s snow days hit Texas. Roye and her team were preparing to close the Smart Hospital in case of bad weather, but they would not let a little thing like snow-pocalpyse stop them from making sure our students can practice their skills no matter the location.
Students can practice placing nasogastric tubes, wound care, inserting IVs, and much more with the task trainers, and simulate many of the activities they might perform daily once they are practicing nurses.
The newly donated task trainers are just one of the many things happening across our Smart Hospital and in our simulation efforts for nursing students in the College.
ENHANCED SIMULATION EXPERIENCES
Our manikins are turning human! More aptly, we are swapping out some of our training practice from manikins to real-life simulated participants. Simulated participants are trained individuals who portray a real patient in order to simulate a set of symptoms or problems used for health care education, evaluation, and research. Beginning last semester, our first semester junior bachelor of science in nursing students experienced the “bed, bath, and beyond,” training where they practiced morning care and changing sheets for patients in a hospital setting with a simulated participate playing the role of the patient.
“These types of trainings had previously done with manikins. While effective, we have a much higher fidelity, or a closer experience to the real-life situation students will encounter, by using real people for them to interact with during these simulations,” said Roye.
“Having simulated participants is a great opportunity because they give you real life experiences, such as responding or reacting back. This can better prepare me for the hospital because I would be ready to communicate and make conversations with patients,” shared Rizzy Reyes, a first semester junior student in the BSN program.
The Smart Hospital and Smart Lab continue to identify additional trainings where they can bring in simulated participants to provide a more realistic experience for our students.
EXPERT FACULTY & STAFF UPDATES
Our faculty experts took part in the Laerdal Learning Labs at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) in January, a scientific conference that explores the latest innovations and best practices in healthcare simulation. Roye, along with Patti Allard, assistant clinical professor, and Meagan Rogers, associate chair for undergraduate nursing, presented their experience in the panel “Case Study: Three Schools of Nursing begin the journey of assessing and evaluating competence through the curriculum.”
They spoke about “Sim Capture,” a platform that focuses on skills and peer evaluation, and how our College is implementing it within our on-campus BSN program to improve tracking and evaluating data across the program consistently.
“Our goal is to foster a stronger integration between the skills and competencies we assess in the classroom, simulated environment, and real-life patient care experiences,” said Rogers. “This ensures that our learners understand the benefit of deliberate practice in simulated settings and can apply knowledge and skills to real life patient situations.”
The Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s Simulation Operations and Technology Section (SOTS) recognized award recipients at IMSH 2022 in the categories of Advocacy, Innovation, and Horizon. Erica Hinojosa, simulation technology manager in the Smart Hospital, received the Advocacy Award. The Advocacy Award recognizes a friend to simulation who works to positively affect policy or change in the simulation community through leadership and education.
The innovative spirit of our faculty along with these state-of-the-art simulation and teaching resources are what makes CONHI a nationally recognized industry leader in nursing education.
WHAT’S NEXT
The new Smart Hospital and School of Social Work building is also now estimated to be 75 percent complete and is on track for completion at the end of 2022. The new modernized Smart Hospital will function as a training space that includes mock patient rooms and medical robots, as well as enhance interdisciplinary learning and collaboration among nursing and social work students. UTA has also recently been awarded a $1 million matching gift from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation in support of the University’s new School of Social Work/College of Nursing and Health Innovation Smart Hospital Building.