UH Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene unveils new simulation laboratory

New lab features state-of-the-art patient simulator for use in teaching nursing students

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Lorrie Wong, (808) 282-6229
School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene
Kristen Bonilla, (808) 956-5039
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: Aug 25, 2005


HONOLULU — The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene recently unveiled its new Simulation Laboratory. Located in Webster Hall on the UH Mānoa campus, the new facility features a state-of-the-art human patient simulator called SimMan™ that breathes and speaks, and can even be programmed to die, all for the purpose of putting nursing students in a very realistic situation.

The full-body manikin has heart, breath and bowel sounds and pulses that can be felt. It also has a unique patented airway that allows for intubation and multiple Advanced Life Support skills. Students are able to perform CPR on SimMan™ and even shock him with defibrillators.

SimMan™ will be utilized in professional nursing and adult health courses at UH Mānoa in the nursing program‘s new Simulation Laboratory. The previous office space has been converted into a high-tech laboratory that consists of an observation room, control room, and simulation room with all the makings of a hospital room, in addition to video cameras and one-way mirrors for observation.

"The Simulation Laboratory and SimMan™ are excellent teaching tools that allow students to experience a crisis situation in a non-threatening environment," said instructor Lorrie Wong. "Students are able to practice critical thinking skills and nursing skills in normal clinical situations without the anxiety and worry of doing harm to a real patient."

The SimMan™ computerized patient simulator can authentically imitate human cardiac and respiratory functions, and can demonstrate clinical problems associated with loss of blood pressure and emergent development of abnormal heart and lung sounds. Instructors sitting at the computerized controls are able to program SimMan™ to display numerous types of medical problems and assess the treatment techniques employed by students.

The scenario-based training needs of Advanced Life Support are met through the patient simulator. In addition, catheterizations, intubations, injections, irrigations, and complex wound care are just some of the skills that can be practiced by nursing students on SimMan™.

As a result of their time in the nursing program‘s Simulation Laboratory, UH Mānoa nursing students will be better prepared to deal with emergent situations as they arise in their clinical practice.

Visit www.nursing.hawaii.edu for more information about the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene at UH Mānoa.

For more information, visit: http://www.nursing.hawaii.edu