Nursing Students Gain Skills Through 72-hour Simulation

During this simulation, students had 12-hour shifts each day and were responsible for two “patients” during that time. This simulation was similar to the one that occurred in 2020, with the exception that it lasted 48-hours and only used one nursing lab. In this year’s simulation two labs were used with each lab having eight patient beds. The Nursing Stimulation Center in the Health Sciences Building served as the medical-surgical/progressive care unit, and the newly renovated Nursing Skills Lab in Pershing Building 315 served as an emergency department. The new additions to the Nursing Skills Lab, such as working suction, compressed air to simulate oxygen delivery and the handicapped accessible restroom, helped add realism to the simulation.

Numerous people volunteered as patients, family members, patient care techs and scribes. These volunteers included freshmen-, sophomore- and junior-level nursing students, high school students, Truman faculty and Kirksville community members. Northeast Regional Medical Center lent out the gowns that were worn during the exercise. Connie Ayers, a previous director of nursing at Truman, and her SCHOLAR team also came to campus to assist students and faculty as the simulation took place.

The 72-hour simulation provided nursing students with hands-on training to better prepare them for their future jobs. It gave them the opportunity to apply their assessment and critical thinking skills in making sound clinical decisions for their patients.