Issue link: http://howardcc.uberflip.com/i/740238
It's 2:06 p.m. on a Thursday, and Noelle has just delivered a beautiful, full-term baby. The team of clinicians surrounding her bedside conduct its initial assessment of the newborn – a boy, named Hal. While he is generally healthy, he is experiencing some respiratory challenges that need to be addressed immediately. In the meantime, a serious medical issue arises for Noelle. She is losing a lot of blood, and her team must get the situation under control to stop her hemorrhaging. Noelle's husband stands at the foot of her bed, emotionally distraught and firing out questions left and right to the nurses, none of which they have time to answer. The nurses need to focus. They need to prioritize. They need to think critically. They need to work well as a team, more than ever before. There is no time to waste. After all, there are human lives at stake … right? Wrong. Noelle is not a real, live new mom. Despite how adorable he is, baby Hal is not a real, live newborn. Both are high-fidelity manikins – different than the traditional mannequin, manikins are full-sized human models that demonstrate realistic reactions through state-of-the art technology and programming. The team that was working so diligently to help? They are not licensed nurses and clinicians, but they aspire to be. They are students participating in a simulation, or sim, exercise at Howard Community College (HCC). Students refer to these simulations as safe places to learn, where Interprofessional Simulation Prepares Students for the Real World of Health Care it is acceptable to ask a lot of questions, make mistakes, and even acknowledge that they do not know what to do when the patient suddenly presents new symptoms. While the cases that unfold are serious and designed to mimic what happens in the real world of health care, they are just simulated scenarios. Here, students can apply theory, explore processes, and learn by trial and error, without compromising the safety and well-being of real, live human beings. "As educators, we have a responsibility to challenge our students, and put them in situations where they have to apply critical reasoning," said Cheryl Nitz, assistant professor of nursing and allied health laboratory manager at HCC. "By practicing scenarios in simulation labs, it's much more likely that students will be able to provide safe patient care when they get jobs and are out there working in the field." One such student is Anne Mannarelli, a recent graduate of HCC's nursing program who completed her final semester clinical rotation at Howard County General Hospital. Fortunately, the first time she faced the intensity of taking care of patients was long before she actually set foot in the hospital. "When I decided to go to nursing school, one of my biggest concerns was that I would do something that could harm a patient," said Mannarelli. "In simulation, I felt pressure and anxiety, but there wasn't a risk of hurting a real person if I did make a mistake. I was able to trust my gut, then look back at the decisions I made and Fall 2016 | Pathways 5