Clinical experience is vital for nurses, and UHI’s new simulation facility in Inverness allows students to get the experience they need in a controlled and supportive environment.
The clinical simulation suite was unveiled on Tuesday at the Centre for Health Science in Inverness.
The suite is made up of two rooms which are designed to replicate hospital wards. Each contains six hospital beds, medical observation systems and equipment.
The facility also offers live video streaming to students across UHI campuses.
Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training, attended the launch event.
He congratulated the staff on a new resource that he thinks will give UHI and the Highlands and Islands a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining students and NHS workers.
Supportive environment for ‘vital’ learning
In one area of the simulation suite, students can practice mental health assessments and counselling in a mock at-home setting.
Drama students are helping out by playing the role of patients. Nursing student David Legge said that kind of experience is invaluable.
“It gives us more insight and a chance to try different approaches. This also gives a little more realism to practice before we go out on placements.”
UHI simulation suite offers competitive edge
Mr Hepburn last visited UHI’s Centre for Health Sciences in August 2022 to highlight the ways the university is helping advance rural healthcare.
While on a tour of the new simulation suite on Tuesday, he watched students handle simulated situations from respiratory emergencies to mental health crises.
With the new simulation facility, UHI students and partners have access to a lifelike clinical setting which is on par with competitors but wasn’t previously available in the area.
Mr Hepburn said this can be crucial for growing the local healthcare industry.
“You want to have access to first-class facilities and the Highlands and Islands should be no different in that regard.
“Having a facility like this can serve to bring people in the area, but also to retain folk. We need to bring more people to work in the National Health Service. We need a growth trajectory in terms of student intake.
“And we need to make sure the Highlands and Islands are a part of that.”
Possibilities for UHI simulation suite are ‘limitless’
UHI’s clinical simulation developer Franklyn Gbakinro has guided the production of the new suite from the very beginning. Through simulation, students are able to learn in a safe, low-pressure environment. Here, a mistake can be a lesson and not a disaster.
It also gives instructors the ability to standardise their students’ clinical experience.
In a real clinical setting, anything can happen. But in the simulation suite, instructors have the ability to control what scenarios arise and when – all while maintaining a sense of urgency and realism for their students.
“It gives them the feel of reality and develops their muscle memory,” Mr Gbakinro said. “It’s almost limitless what we are able to do with it.”
Third-year nursing student Fiona Ross will be demonstrating the versatility of the suite. This year, she’s launching a new programme. Instead of staff running the show, third-year students spend time training newer students.
“The suite is an integral part of my peer mentoring project. It will allow students to really assimilate knowledge, consolidate learning and have hands-on experiences.
“I believe it will put students more at ease when attending placements and create more confident, capable and assured nurses.”
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