The School of Nursing at California Baptist University has advanced its technology since first opening its doors to students in 2006.
In 2010, the Institute of Medicine released its report “The Future of Nursing,” motivating California Baptist University’s nursing program to prepare its students for future developments.
The IOM report said high rates among newly graduated nurses highlighted the need for a more focused way of managing the transition from nursing school to practice.
“There is (a high) demand on technology in nursing education to promote best patient outcomes once they graduate,” said Dayna Herrera, School of Nursing director of learning resources and clinical simulation and assistant professor of nursing.
The School of Nursing at CBU is always looking for ways to broaden students’ education beyond classroom and into the workplace.
“The program wants to create a space for inter-professional learning where groups of healthcare professionals can practice collaboratively,” said Sarah Pearce, learning resource center assistant and standardized patient coordinator.
The nursing program currently has four active state-of-the-art learning rooms.
The Flex classroom allows students to learn in an environment where they are surrounded in 360-degree monitors.
Inside the High Fidelity Simulation Suites there are seven interactive mannequins that help students further develop wtheir training.
The Sim-Man 3G, one of the mannequins, simulates the actions of a real human being. It communicates through predetermined voice recordings unique to sensory receptors that are triggered in response to certain actions.
Sim-Man 3G has the ability to bleed, sweat, react to medications and communicate in order for the students to observe its reactions and emotions in real time.
Nursing students are also trained in a staged clinic where they are tested on patient care from the reception area to the examination room.
In order to ensure that students feel they are treating actual patients, students from CBU’s theater program are brought in to act as patients.
A behind the scenes room ajoined to the mock clinic where actors prpeare for their simulation with fake scars, cuts and a variety of other makeup.
“When it comes to midterms, the different scenarios serve as a stress reducer,” said Lisa Bursch, RN-BSN program director and DNP program acting director. “Clinical operation is familiar to them when they are in the real world.”
Simple procedures such as casting and applying sutures are taught in the Procedure Lab, where cutting-edge cameras and sound system record student activity.
The recordings can be used to offer feedback from professors at a later time.
Students are individually assessed on their performance through Kb Port.
The Kb Port system is a compilation of state-of-the-art optic cameras and sound systems connected to a central command center where professors can debrief students using visual support.
Current and future nursing students can also look forward to the reveal of the Sim Studio in the Spring 2015 semester.
“CBU’s nursing program has the advantage of owning some of the most advanced technology to give exceptional training,” Pearce said.
