Erica Adams has just had a total hysterectomy.
Now she’s finding it hard to breathe, and her oxygen stats are dropping. Her chest hurts, her heart is racing, and her blood pressure is dropping. She’s exhibiting the classic signs of a pulmonary embolism, a potentially fatal complication.
The team of nurses caring for her must act quickly, coordinating their care to restore Erica’s breathing and blood flow before it’s too late. They pull an oxygen mask off the wall to put on her face, start fluid running through her IV, and push the code cart into the room in case they need to use it.
Everything about the situation is true to life, except the patient herself. Erica is made of synthetic skin and colored water, not flesh and blood.She is one of two high-fidelity patient simulators in St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center’s Nursing Simulation Lab.(Two low-fidelity mannequins live there, as well.) The lab is an innovative method of teaching healthcare providers how to respond to crisis situations before they face them with real patients.
They can draw blood from Erica’s veins, give her an injection in her deltoid, and insert a chest tube between her ribs. She has a measurable pulse, heart beat, lung sounds, and can respond to the nurses caring for her with the voice of Nathan Brent, who controls Erica’s physiological responses from a computer laptop hidden nearby. Her vital signs are reflected on the bedside patient monitor. It’s the nursing equivalent to flight simulation.
“The theory is that by exposing them to a realistic environment, they will react realistically, and if any errors are made, they’re made on a simulation mannequin versus a real patient,” says Brent, St. Joseph’s nursing education and simulation specialist.
The hospital installed the lab in 2006, thanks to a $150,000 grant from St. Joseph’s Foundation,which supports medical education and technology,among other endeavors.
Read more about Erica and the simulation lab at St. Joseph's on page 4 of the latest edition of St. Joseph's magazine online.
