When learning how to work in a hospital, hands-on experience beforehand is necessary.
That’s especially true as the need for health care workers grows. According to the American Hospital Association, between now and the year 2033, hospitals around the country will need to hire at least 200,000 nurses to address workforce development needs in the health care industry due to retirement of nurses. Within the same timeframe, the association predicts America will face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians.
Clearly, the ongoing need for health care professionals is strong.
State-of-the-art learning
A new Simulation, Technology and Research (STAR) Center in the College of Health Professions (CHP) at University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) provides a space where students can work in a facility that looks and acts just like a working hospital. Students engage in real-time, state-of-the-art health care experiences that aid them in thinking critically about patient care.
The STAR Center is equipped with simulated hospital suites with medical supplies and technologies that use high fidelity Human Patient Simulators -- life-like manikins that react physiologically, as if they are real-life patients. They include adult, obstetrical and pediatric manikins to prepare students to provide safe, competent and compassionate care in the clinical setting.
“We have done simulation for years, but this is simulation through a different lens,” said Nina Favor, assistant dean of prelicensure clinical partnerships. “This center broadens it and uses the discipline according to the International Nursing Association for Clinical and Simulation Learning standards.”
Each simulation suite offers something different. Some patients are treated for trauma while others give birth. And all of it is done under the watchful eyes of simulation and clinical faculty in a nearby control room. Cameras and one-way mirrors allow instructors to watch as students learn everything from bedside manner to labor and delivery.
[Related: View simulation suites]
There are also exam rooms, a virtual reality lab, skills lab, crash carts, isolation carts, ventilators and more, all of which work to create real-life situations and environments that the students can expect to encounter once they enter the health care workforce.
The center, which is designed to promote student-faculty collaboration with an enhanced flexibility of the curriculum and scenarios, helps students to understand benefits of treating patients in different ways.
Translating to the future
Former student Erika Moreno, who now works as a nurse in the cardiovascular operating room at University of Michigan Hospital, said simulation work begins with a case study where students are given details about the manikin patients.
“That starts our critical thinking, and we work in teams,” Moreno said. “I remember to ask the patient one thing and my team member remembers to ask something else, so we’re tag teaming and learning from each other and the situation. Health care is new to me, so the simulation experience (was) helpful. It gave me that nursing experience before I had to do it in real life.”
According to Favor, the STAR Center is redefining the CHP’s interprofessional environment. Every program that falls under the CHP -- from physician assistant to Bachelor of Nursing -- will benefit, she said.
The STAR Center connects with Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, where Detroit Mercy runs its nursing program, and the new Novi Campus, where the master’s Entry Advanced Generalist Nursing (MEAGN) program is offered.
Favor said the STAR Center is also beneficial to students on all three campuses who need training on serving rural, hearing impaired, aging, youth and other populations who have unique needs.
“This is the future of health care education,” Favor said. “It’s great for Detroit Mercy, our students and the community.”
To learn more about Detroit Mercy’s College of Health Professions and its STAR Center, click or tap here.