VCU School of Nursing Center for Clinical Learning Adds New Pediatric Simulator
The VCU School of Nursing’s Clinical Learning Center (CLC) recently welcomed one of the newest pediatric simulators in the industry to its growing interactive education inventory. Fresh off the assembly line, the SimJunior™ is about the size of a five-year-old, said Sandra Voll, MS, RN, CNM, WHNP, FNP, assistant professor and CLC director.
“He’s a high-fidelity simulator – he can talk, breathe and has pulses,” Voll said. “This completes the family of simulators we expose students to as part of our clinical education,” she said, adding that the CLC’s interactive patient simulators include five adults, one geriatric, one infant and one newborn.
The SimJunior, developed by Laerdal with the American Academy of Pediatrics, is designed to enable instructors to scale their training to meet individual needs. It includes easy-to-use software that gives instructors the ability to create basic or advanced scenarios.
Through the innovative user interface and scenario design, instructors can control the simulator’s responses during a training session with the push of a button on a handheld remote control or a laptop PC. They can create multiple physiological changes at once to present life threatening scenarios for students. Subsequently, the interactive manikin gives immediate feedback to students so they can think critically and adjust their care plan accordingly.
One of the most advanced and comprehensive clinical simulation centers on the East Coast and recognized in 2010 as a Laerdal Center for Education Excellence, the VCU School of Nursing’s CLC provides unique educational experiences beyond traditional lectures. The addition of SimJunior is the latest example of the Clinical Learning Center’s efforts to integrate cutting edge technology into its pediatric training programs.
“The simulator is very interactive and offers a real-world learning experience for our students,” Voll said. “We’re committed to ensuring our students master the skills they need to provide care to patients of all ages.”
VCU School of Nursing sophomores Claire Steindam, Brandi Stanley and Tenesha Bottoms experience interactive learning with the pediatric simulator.