Nursing Simulation

Back in March, I had the opportunity to step into a nursing simulation at UT Austin and experience the training that young men and women go through to earn the title. There were two situations present. The first was a 5-year-old diabetic with a blood sugar level eight times the normal. The second was an unresponsive adult with congestive heart failure. Teams are asked to apply their personal nursing theory and learned skills through collaboration and communication. Just as I had learned to develop my own design process and methodology, I was shocked to see myself relating so easily to nursing students!

They are asked to make quick decisions in a constantly changing environment and context. These simulations, with realistic and specific dummies responding to their actions (controlled by a behind-the-scenes teacher controlling its functions - speech, vitals, etc), provided a way for the students to understand the phenomenon of what teacher Jay Ross called "theories-efficacy maternal role-modeling". In other words, how can a nurse use their technique to give a patient better well-being in terms of their cultural, ethical, and historical backgrounds? Simulations allow them to understand what might or might not work... a situational harm versus good... the complexity of dealing with people's lives and feelings versus straight-forward technical skills.

It was very fascinating to watch, and being able to relate their work back to mine has given me a great deal of respect for the ethical dilemma behind nursing.