ABINGDON, Va. (WCYB) — The patients may not be real, but they’re as life-like as possible.
We can change their heart rate, their respiratory rate, we can change their heart, lung, and bowel sounds, they act like real people in a simulated environment, said Karen Brown, Director of Heath Care Initiatives for the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center.
The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center is opening a regional simulation lab for nursing and allied health.
This allows for deliberate practice, where they can suspend belief and they can actually work, practice, and improve in a safe environment, said Crystal Hunnicutt, Director of Southwest Operations and Assistant Program Director for Virginia Commonwealth University.
Center leaders say the facility was built through regional partnerships, bringing schools, healthcare providers, and educators together.
It’s collaboration and innovation at its best, said David Matlock, Executive Director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center.
The lab is equipped just like a hospital, even allowing students to practice surgeries.
Ethan Davis is a second year nurse anesthetist student at Virginia Commonwealth University, and he says the hands-on training helps them build confidence before treating real patients.
“A lot of this is muscle memory. This type of simulation allows us to build that muscle memory, so then we can just react, said Davis. If we can learn to take care of you in here, then we will know how to react when it actually comes time to be in the physical clinical arena or in the OR.“
