Simulators in Nursing School

One of the more recent additions to nursing education has been high-tech simulator mannequins. While I was in nursing school, I had the opportunity to practice I.V. insertion on a simulator (Virtual I.V.) that showed a virtual image on the computer as I was inserting the needle into a fake arm. It was very educational as it showed the precise depth and angle of the needle. It had the ability to quiz you on what supplies you needed and was able to simulate different veins in different parts of the body. It also provided the tactile stimulation of “feeling” when you enter a vein or miss one. I thought this was extremely helpful in order to build confidence before practicing I.V. insertion on real patients.

We also had the opportunity to work with a full-body simulator that provided practice in different areas such as urinary catheter insertion, auscultation of heart and lungs, wound care, NG insertion and suctioning, and many more. Our instructors were also able to program the simulator to have different heart rates, respirations, blood pressure, and palpation of pulses in order to practice resuscitation and critical thinking skills.

Overall, the use of simulators has been a positive experience in my nursing education. It has provided a safe environment for me to practice my skills before applying them in a real setting on a real patient. Having our instructors present to change the simulator’s vital signs enabled me to use the nursing process to provide care to an ever-changing patient. The ability to download the information after practicing on a simulator helped our instructors debrief us and teach from our actions.

One thing that I really think would have improved the simulator experience would have been to have full access to the equipment. The way the simulators were built into our curriculum only allowed supervised access to them during certain lab days in the semester. A better way to help students learn from these tools would be to have an open lab with senior nursing students available for assistance.

Does your nursing school have simulators to practice with? Are they built into your nursing education? If so, do you have free access to use them? I would love to hear how other nursing schools are implementing this new technology.