Community Colleges Offer High-Tech Options for Nursing Simulation Training

It's a great time to seek a degree in the healthcare field. Beyond the realm of doctors, nurses and other allied health practitioners are in high demand at hospitals, clinics, and urgent care centers nationwide. But with the cost of higher education on the rise, how can nurses obtain a degree without breaking the bank? Where can nursing learners access the best learning tools in a state of the art educational environment, and take part inessential learning events like nursing simulation training?

Two words: community college!

Community colleges are embracing the trend by offering a wide range of certificate programs for health sciences professionals, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, medical diagnosticians, dental assistants, pharmacy technicians. Community colleges are also an option for those who wish to obtain an Associate of Science (A.S.) degree, or even transfer to a four-year program following graduation. A.S. health sciences options may include emergency medical services technology, radiologic technology, dental hygiene, respiratory care, and nursing. Hands-on simulation training can augment any of these fields, including nursing programs that offer nursing simulation training.

So it's no surprise that increasing numbers of nursing learners are looking to community and two-year colleges to obtain their degrees. Like their four-year counterparts, community colleges strive to keep up with the demands of their learners. A community college lab for nursing simulation training may include real or realistic equipment, task trainers, and low- and high-fidelity human patient simulators.

What's included in the real or realistic nursing simulation training equipment? In the main, things that would be present in a real clinical environment: crash carts that contain disposable supplies (gauze, bandages, gloves, syringes);simulated drugs and medications; tools such as stethoscopes, sphygmomanometers, thermometers, vital signs readers, Doppler’s, scales, EKG equipment, and ocular devices; respiratory and resuscitation devices; and even medical or surgical instruments.

With all of that on hand, you may be wondering where task trainers fit in to the world of nursing simulation training. Task trainers, or part-task physical trainers, replicate particular portions of a patient's body so that the learner can complete a designated clinical task. Task trainers provide basic elements of the procedure or skill being learned. Although they can't offer a perfect representation of what it's like to perform the task on a real patient, task trainers allow learners to Honea basic skill set.

Human patient simulators are similarly important for nursing simulation training at the community college level. Constructed to look like a real person – and in many cases "act" like one too through the help of the simulation technician – nursing learners perform more complex tasks to provide treatment during the simulation session. High-fidelity human patient simulators can talk, blink, and even bleed! And the learners interact with the simulator and perform tasks like obtaining heart rate and blood pressure readings, examining digital vital signs, resuscitating, applying bandages and caring to wounds, and more.

All of these tools allow nursing learners to hone skills in a safe environment without ever running the risk of harming an actual patient. Good communication is essential to practicing nurses, and learners can hone their verbal and nonverbal communication skills with both patients and fellow caregivers. Similarly, critical thinking and lifesaving decision making, hygiene, emergency or code protocol, and clinical diagnostics are all skills that can be developed and refined through nursing simulation training at a community college. And if the learner makes a mistake, it poses an optimal opportunity for learning—and getting it right the next time.

Is a career in nursing in your future? Look no further than your local community college and the ample opportunities for nursing education through nursing simulation training it offers.

Learn more about nursing simulation training at SIMULATIONiQ.com.

Author Bio

The author of the article has extensive experience in the field of Nursing Simulation Training and Medical Simulation Training.

The author of the article has an extensive experience in the field of Simulation and Deliberate Practice.