High tech Simulation Lab
It's been about a year since Georgian College - with financial help from the Ontario government - created two new nursing simulation labs equipped with several ALS ("SimMan") simulators. Nursing education has never been the same since.
The Sim Lab is a busy place for nursing students.
These ultra-realistic simulators offer a wide age range of "patients", from infants to elderly in both genders. They can be programmed to present many different symptoms which challenge students' clinical and decision-making skills.
They offer up real patient-care scenarios - the simulators talk to students, and special patches even allow students to practice giving injections and other treatments.
The computerized "patients" can produce all kinds of symptoms to challenge students.
The labs also provide additional training, skills upgrading and professional development opportunities for internationally trained health workers or nurses returning to practice.
By using simulators in place of human patients, students no longer have to rely on hospital placements to gain all their clinical experience. Many institutions have difficulty making room for nursing students because of limited space and resources, and now students can arrive in the clinical placements with greater background and experience than ever before.
Now that the lab has been in operation for about a year, it's become clear that students also develop excellent physical assessment skills that far exceed what they'd get by doing hospital rotations.
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Julie Baks in the lab
Julie Baks is a typical student who has had the opportunity to practice her skills in the lab.
"The new nursing simulation lab has improved my critical thinking skills, health assessment practices, and self-confidence. It's a safe place to practice my nursing skills, and it's helped me feel more confident in my clinical placements," she says.
Faculty and students work side by side.
Founded on the concepts of caring, Georgian's Nursing collaborative Nursing program has students work in teams, among other methods.
Graduates typically find employment opportunities in:
- general and specialty hospitals
- nursing homes and homes for the aged
- medical offices or
- community health services.
The Sim Lab setting is just like a bustling hospital ward.