Lamar University’s JoAnne Gay Dishman Department of Nursing and Lamar Institute of Technology are collaborating in learning experiences that emulate real-life critical-care situations, with exercises scheduled from 7 to 11 a.m. and noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the McFaddin Ward Health Sciences Building on the university campus.
Additional sessions are scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the same times.
The nursing department implemented the program as an innovative way for Lamar nursing students to learn about interdisciplinary healthcare collaborations, said Eileen Deges Curl, chair of the Dishman Department of Nursing. The department invited emergency medical technicians, paramedics and respiratory therapy students to participate in the simulations with LU nursing students. LeAnn Chisholm, simulation coordinator in the nursing department, developed simulated experiences patterned after real-life emergencies.
“This type of high-tech, interactive, interdisciplinary learning experience promotes patients’ safety in hospitals after these students graduate because they have had realistic learning experiences during school,” Curl said.
The first interdisciplinary simulation was staged Nov. 6 and was highly successful, Chisholm said. As part of the process, the simulation was projected onto a large screen in Room 103 for peer reviewers. The nursing department is gathering evaluation data from all student participants and will disseminate the data after the simulations Nov. 11 and 18.
“All students involved enjoyed the process and said it was a valuable learning experience,” Chisholm said. I believe the faculty enjoyed it as much as the students. If this is what we can do in the beginning, LU and LIT will have incredible collaborations in the future.”
