News & Events
Grant providing simulators instrumental to ND AHEC, Mayville State
March 17, 2012
By Harry Lipsiea
reproduced with permission from the Trail County Tribune
What were to happen if a Mayville State University (MSU) student making his way from Old Main to the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse suddenly slumped to the ground and stopped breathing? With immediate help and call to emergency services, the student would have the opportunity to get the medical assistance needed to stay alive. Luckily, this scenario isn't commonplace.
A recent grant received by the North Dakota Area Health Education Center (AHEC), however, gives the university a chance to increase opportunities in the nursing program at MSU.
With the technical training received through the simulation mannequin, Mayville State University nursing students under the direction of Kari Matthys, RN, and Lois Karlstad, technical assistant with the Eastern North Dakota AHEC, such medical emergencies are created with "real life" authenticity to increase education opportunities.
"Simulation technology has created new and better methods of teaching and reinforcing best practices for health-care professionals," Bill Krivarchka, Director of Eastern North Dakota AHEC, said.
Human simulators, like the ones received by North Dakota AHEC and used at MSU, are remarkably life-like, the director said. These simulators can talk, cry, breathe and bleed. The technology behind computer-based health care simulation provides a realistic set of tools to teach, improve and maintain the skills of future and current health care professionals.
"Such teaching tools are not only invaluable for medical, nursing and other health care professional students, but also for practicing physicians, dentists, nurses, paramedics, EMS, fire and rescue, military and public health providers," Krivarchka said.
Real-life training
Matthys and around 12 nursing students at MSU prepared for simulation training at Old Main Wednesday. Split up into groups of three, students were given a scenario involving a patent who needed emergency services. The first group responded to a farmstead south of town where a 73-year old woman who felt ill and had serious troubles breathing.
"Can you hear me?," Heather Aune, nursing student at MSU, asks.
During this time, group members Kellie Ulrich and Rachel Dakken check the woman's blood pressure, heart rate and other important vital signs. Students also are able to monitor the breathing of the patient as the mannequin has a slow breathing pattern.
"These things are just so life-like," Karlstad, who works the simulator through a computer system, said with excitement. "There are just so many things that can be done. It's really amazing that a mannequin can do so many things. I think it's just a great experience for the students."
The students continue to talk with the woman to make a diagnosis of what the problem is.
"I am having trouble breathing," Matthys, portraying the patient, said through a two-way radio transceiver.
After hooking up the woman for intravenous therapy (IV), the group calls a physician to prepare for the patient's arrival to a medical facility. The students then prepare for transfer, ending the simulation training session. When this is completed, a debriefing session is held between Matthys and the students.
"This is where we discuss how the simulation went," she said. "It's an incredibly important part to see what the students think of the process. We can then discuss what went well and what can be improved on."
After the first group's session, members felt the simulation was a positive experience and went pretty well.
"I think it was good," Ulrich said. "It just takes a little while to get used to."
Since the simulation training began in January, consistent improvement has been shown from the nursing students. They seem to become more comfortable with the simulation process each time out, Karlstad said.
"It's neat to see the progress made from week to week," she said. "The students have really improved their skills from working with the new simulators. It's been a fun process so far."
Simulator varieties
The North Dakota AHEC program was one of five recipients of a national Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to acquire simulation training mannequins. The grant has provided the program with five different simulator varieties.
"They are all very unique," Matthys said.
The five simulators are Simman 3G, Simbaby, Pediatric simulator, NOELLE and ALS simulator. Simman 3G is the fully functional adult simulator that is used to practice emergency room procedures while Simbaby is the infant simulator. The Pediatric simulator is a mannequin of a six-year old child. NOELLE is the simulator for maternal and neonatal birthing simulator. The ALS simulator is an advanced full-body mannequin.
"There's a mannequin for all walks of life," Karlstad said. "Having five different models is a big help."
An alliance
The North Dakota Simulation Alliance is made up of North Dakota AHEC, North Dakota Simulation, Teaching and Research (ND STAR), University of North Dakota College of Nursing (CON) and Center for Rural Health (CRH). The organization is a multi-disciplinary organization with the purpose of providing quality outreach education that effectively utilizes collaborative resources to improve health and safety of the citizens of North Dakota.
Ultimately, officials hope to promote the importance of health care in the state. Krivarchka believes that it's vital that there are local students pursuing medical fields.
"Health care is such an ever-expanding and growing field," he said. "By developing more nursing and medical related programs in the state's colleges, universities and health care agencies, we are providing great opportunities for our students and health care providers as well as quality health outcomes for our communities."