Nursing students save mannequins
Nursing students save mannequins
Adult and baby talk, respond to touch
MOSES LAKE — A patient lays in a hospital bed, breathing normally. His heartbeat is steady. Suddenly, he indicates he can't breathe.
Good thing the patient is a mannequin.
Big Bend Community College received two computerized mannequins this year for nursing students to perfect their techniques. The adult and baby pair respond to human contact, "breathe" and even talk to students.
"They're pretty human-like in their effect," said Ann Mulkey, director of health education at BBCC.
Instructors program the mannequins, called Sim Man and Sim Baby, for different scenarios.
Nursing Instructor Danielle Meyers said Sim Man and Sim Baby are applied to medical training, emergency medical technician training, mass casualty training and used in nursing schools. The mannequins should be ready for classroom use sometime in the winter quarter and in full use by spring, Meyers said.
A compression box provides air to the mannequins, and wiring and sensors make it even more life-like. When a scenario is launched, such as making Sim Man an asthma patient, his vital statistics start to change: oxygen levels decrease, blood pressure increases.
"Students have a number of objectives in treating him," Meyers said.
He can speak words built into the program, including phrases such as, "Go away," "I'm fine" and "I can't breathe." Another option is for the nursing instructor to talk through the mannequin, making its phrase options limitless. A list of recipes can make the experience even more realistic with the creation of mock substances such as vomit or feces.
Sim Man's gender can be changed from male to female using interchangeable parts. Bone kits can simulate a broken bone. The department is looking into acquiring a burn kit, which could make the mannequin appear as a burn patient.
"He's pretty amazing," Meyers said.
The scenarios can be as complicated or simple as instructors make it, she said. Instructors are attending a conference on scenario-writing in the Seattle area this week. They are traveling to Texas by the end of fall quarter to learn how to use the mannequins.
The mannequins are different from traditional mannequins because they interact with students as much as students interact with them.
The BBCC Foundation and community donations funded the mannequins, Meyers said.
"This will just benefit the students so much," Meyers said.
Their skin is also more lifelike. It needs to be kept clean because too much oil from human contact can actually degrade the skin, Meyers said. The benefit of the mannequins is worth the extra maintenance, she said.
Meyers said the department is looking at transforming one of the nursing building rooms into a simulation room, complete with a control room and storage. The department would like to see a wall separating the main portion of the classroom with the simulation room so students can watch other students on video.
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