Week 2

Week 2 in the Simulation Lab

We have been given our change from our Professors for this class this quarter.  We are to complete a Simulation Lab Manual. We are to spend 5 hours a week working on ways to complete this charge.  My hours for week 2 were spent along with Sue, at the Tri-State Simulation and Skills Lab Consortium meeting at Mt St Josephs in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a very productive meeting. We used the drive to and from to brainstorm on our lab ideas and how we could create this lab manual. We plan to use this manual not only for our coursework but as an actual lab manual for the BSN Simulation Nursing Lab.  We have many great ideas that you will hopefully be able to see over the next few months as we complete out manual.  We gained a lot of valuable information from this meeting and also valuable contacts from other schools and colleges with Simulation labs.

We were able to meet with the Laredal representative and had an opportunity to see the new SimMan 3G used. We are happy to say, that we at Ohio University have a SimMan 3g! Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take him out of the packaging until a later date due to the warranty we must wait on the representative to come here and assist us in putting him together. He comes in many parts. He is a wireless interactive mannequin. He has many built in neurological functions and we were able to be witness to many of his skills during our meeting.  He is able to produce tears, urine, and blood amongst many other things. We were given a cook book with many great ideas from other faculty members on how to make very realistic body fluids and products.

On another note, my students were able to practice taking vital signs this week in the lab. They have also all been successfully checked off on washing their hands, which is a critical skill for a nurse! Our mannequins have been dressed and moved out of the beds for students to practice. I along with two of the lab instructors dressed our mannequins and placed then in chairs out of the bed so the students could use the beds. We are having a great ride thus far! I look forward to updating you on our progress.