Skills Training Provided to Nursing and Medical Students

The new Clinical Simulation Center provides useful training for students studying to be doctors and nurses throughout the state. With the use of life-like mannequins, which will respond to treatment, nursing and medical students are able to work in a realistic environment.

“It provides a real life situation for students to practice thinking on their feet,” said Catherine Prato, a doctoral student in the nursing program who also works as a graduate assistant. 

In each area of the center, a specialized high-fidelity mannequin allows students to take vital signs and make assessments while providing an opportunity to practice professional communication, team management, task performance and decision making. Through a two-way mirror to the central control center, faculty continually monitor student performance and can dynamically alter the patient’s physiology or behavior in real time. These practice scenarios are used as teaching tools when recorded for class discussion and review.

The realistic environment and lifelike patients quickly engage students and allow them respond to the patient's specific needs. This experience prepares the students for real life scenarios they will face in their professional careers.

“This is a collaborative effort between nursing students and medical students,” says Carolyn Yucha, dean of the UNLV School of Nursing.  “It allows them to work together as students and understand one another’s roles before they get in the clinical setting.”

Yucha explains that the simulation lab provides unique opportunities for students that they wouldn’t get in the hospital.  Using the mannequins allows students to have hands on work with a patient, practice and make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes in a safe learning environment.  Then, when the students go to the hospitals, they already have many of the necessary skills.