Students enrolled in our Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Lewiston Montana lab site had the opportunity to practice real-world nursing simulation experiences earlier this month as they enter the final months of their year-long journey to becoming registered nurses.
Best Practice Medicine, a healthcare and first-responder training company based in Bozeman Montana, traveled to Lewistown with their state-of-the-art mobile simulation truck to provide students with a three-day simulation experience aimed at exposing them to a variety of potential scenarios a nurse may experience in the field, all through the use of customizable high-fidelity mannequins.
“I feel like the three days we spent with Best Practice Medicine were an extremely valuable learning experience. The mannequins felt and looked very realistic, and I loved how real the scenarios felt.” said Lisa Baggia a student enrolled in the Accelerated BSN program at Lewistown.
As part of the simulation, students were exposed to various medical scenarios and patient simulations. While all UP-nursing students work with simulations offered at the clinical site and gain direct experience through required clinical rotations, the simulations offered by Best Practice Medicine can be customized, offering scenarios that students may not be exposed as part of their nursing school training.
Some of the scenarios students practiced during this simulation experience were opioid overdoses, traumatic brain injury trauma, newborn resuscitation, pediatric trauma with bilateral open fractures, and adult post-op patient in respiratory distress. Not only are students able to practice managing these patient scenarios, but are able to review their performance, identify areas of improvement, and re-run simulations.
“Overall, my time this week was amazing. I loved the environment; the instructors were so knowledgeable, and the simulations were so helpful to my journey to becoming a nurse. I’m excited to use what they taught us in actual practice and continue to build on the knowledge we gained.” Said Alivia Atlee, a student enrolled in the Accelerated BSN program at Lewistown.
The simulation truck offers current and future nurses, emergency medical personal, and first responders the opportunity to practice life-saving measures. The visit from the simulation truck was made possible thanks to a generous grant received from the Area Health Education Center (AHEC), which provided funds to reserve the truck for the students.
“Overall, this was a very positive experience for me.” Said ABSN student Jacob Westers, “I would have been happy to keep going back to run through different things and continue learning from that group. This was time well spent and I was able to make full use of the time and effort that the Best Practice Medicine team gave us.”
